In an unexpected move, the Virginia Senate killed the state's "personhood" bill that would define life as starting at conception is dead for this year in Virginia.
The Senate voted 24-14 today to send the bill back to committee and carry it over to 2013.
The action came not long after a Senate committee voted 8-7 along party lines to approve the bill, despite the opposition of those who argued that the broad measure could prohibit birth control and in vitro fertilization.
The proposal, sponsored by Delegate Robert Marshall (R), would have granted "personhood" status to unborn children, including embryos.
"This is a huge win for women in the Republican war on a women's right to choose and women's health," Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee spokeswoman Carolyn Fiddler told The Huffington Post.
The bill's defeat comes days after McDonnell and legislative Republicans agreed to amend the bill requiring women to have a trans-vaginal ultrasound before having an abortion.
Still, the war on women's health goes on. Ed will have an update tonight on The Ed Show on msnbc.