image A final vote on Tuesday was delayed by lawmakers in Virginia on a highly contested bill that would oblige women in the eastern US state to undertake a transvaginal ultrasoundpreceding an abortion.

Republican Governor Bob McDonnell, a Roman Catholic father of five, was poised to swiftly sign the so-called “informed consent” bill — adopted by the state senate earlier this month– into law.

But a day after 1,000 protesters descended on the state capitol in Richmond, the Ho…