To the Editor:
On Tuesday, April 10, I attended Barbara Comstock's town hall meeting in Great Falls. As a constituent, I wanted to ask her why she voted for mandatory ultrasound procedures for women (HB462) and why she voted for the so-called "personhood" bill (HB1) that would give full rights to zygotes and could restrict a woman's access to birth control, while voting against funding for two of our northern Virginia priorities: education and transportation (HB30). Her explanation was less than satisfactory. She claimed that the mandatory ultrasound bill was meant to give women a choice, represented that the personhood bill was a wrongful death bill, and never clearly explained her opposition to education and transportation funding. It is unclear to me why Ms. Comstock would support controversial and divisive legislation that could discourage businesses to move to Northern Virginia, particularly at a time when the jobs, education and fixing gridlock should be our priorities. We also have a right to know where our representatives in government stand on issues; they should be willing to acknowledge and defend their positions, rather than provide evasive answers and mischaracterizations. I don’t believe that Ms. Comstock represents the majority of Northern Virginians. We deserve better.
Deborah DeMasi
McLean