Virginia state Sen. Mark Obenshain (R) won the Republican nomination to replace Ken Cuccinelli as the state’s attorney general this weekend. As Think Progress reported Monday, Obenshain once introduced a bill that would charge women with a Class 1 misdemeanor if they failed to report a miscarriage to police.
The bill, introduced in 2009, stated that if a miscarriage occured without medical attendance, the woman would be required to report the “fetal death, location of the remains, and the identity of the mother” to the local or state police department. If she failed to do this within 24 hours, the bill would find the woman guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. As Think Progress notes, a Class 1 misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of “confinement in jail for not more than twelve months and a fine of not more than $2,500” in Virginia.
