Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Bloggers bring down HB 1677

The Norfolk paper reports here that Del. Cosgrove declared that he would withdraw HB 1677 after he got 500 angry e-mails.

The article says, in part:

"A Chesapeake lawmaker withdrew a bill on Monday that would have required women to report fetal deaths, after he received more than 500 e-mails from people concerned that the measure would punish women who have miscarriages.

Opposition to the bill, HB1677, was generated by 'blogs,' personal Web sites set up by individuals who post information and encourage discussion about topics of interest to them.

Del. John A. Cosgrove, R-Chesapeake, was shaken by the speed and volume of the response as word of his bill traveled across the country via the Internet.

'I’ve never been blogged before,' he said. 'The tone of the e-mails has been disgusting. It’s, 'You’re a horrible person. You ought to be crucified.’ And those were the nice ones.'"

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