In the crunch, John Chichester let down pro-lifers

Date published: 5/12/2003

Some folks in the Republican Party have voiced questions lately when asked about the upcoming primary between conservative Republican Mike Rothfeld and a more moderate Sen. John Chichester of Stafford County.

For example, Speaker of the House Bill Howell wonders why anyone would oppose Sen. Chichester. There happens to be a rather straightforward answer to this question. Conservatives want an elected representative who can be counted on regardless of whether it's an election year or not.

This year, an election year, parental-consent legislation passed in both the House and Senate and withstood the challenge of a gubernatorial veto. This bill, according to Del. Dick Black, R-Loudoun, will save the lives of 6,000 unborn Virginia children every year.

Last year in the 2002 session, parental consent remained bottlenecked in the Senate Education and Health Committee, 7-7, while Sen. Chichester, the deciding vote, played hooky. Del. Black hand-delivered a letter to Sen. Chichester on the floor of the Senate urging him to break the tie vote. If the senator did not come, parental-consent legislation would die. Sen. Chichester neither came to break the impasse, nor did he send a proxy.

Virginians need trustworthy conservative leadership they can count on regardless of the election cycle. That, Mr. Speaker, is why it's time to elect Mike Rothfeld.

Mary Walsh

Spotsylvania

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Date published: 5/12/2003