Contraception access bills head to Youngkin — Will he sign or veto this time?

Yahoo

18-02-2025

A giant inflatable intrauterine device is displayed outside of Virginia's Capitol on Feb. 7, 2025. (Photo by Charlotte Rene Woods/Virginia Mercury)
For the second year in a row, bills protecting access to contraception are headed to Gov. Glenn Youngkin's desk — leaving supporters hopeful he won't veto them like last time.
'We are back, because we have to keep working until Virginians' right to access contraception is protected,' said Del. Cia Price, D-Newport News, speaking earlier this month in front of a giant inflatable intrauterine device in Richmond's capitol square.
Dubbed 'Freeda,' the large IUD has toured the country as part of a nationwide right-to-contraception campaign led by Americans for Contraception.
Now that the bills from Price and Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, (House Bill 1716 and Senate Bill 1105) have cleared both chambers, Youngkin again has three choices: sign them into law, amend them or veto them once again.
Both lawmakers have emphasized that these protections are critical, citing growing restrictions on contraception in other states and stalled federal efforts to establish stronger safeguards. The push has only gained urgency following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe vs. Wade — especially after Justice Clarence Thomas has suggested revisiting rulings that currently protect contraception access nationwide.
'It is not hyperbole to say that access to contraception is in jeopardy in this country,' Hashmi warned.
Before rejecting the bill in 2024, Youngkin had proposed a substitute which Price and Hashmi said 'gutted' their original proposal. Theirs had explicitly affirmed both a healthcare provider's right to prescribe contraception and an individual's right to obtain it. It also provided clear definitions of contraception methods and outlined legal remedies if those rights were violated.
Youngkin's alternative was far narrower, merely affirming existing U.S. Supreme Court rulings that permit contraception access. Price and Hashmi argue that their bill is necessary should federal protections fail — just as abortion rights did with Roe v. Wade.
This year, Sen. David Sutterlein, R-Roanoke County, carried a bill mirroring Youngkin's substitute, but it failed to advance.
As the debate over contraception access intensifies ahead of the statewide elections later this year, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger weighed in on the pending legislation.
'Personal medical decisions should be made by patients, their families, and their medical providers — without the unwanted input of politicians in Richmond or capitals across the country,' Spanberger said in a statement Tuesday. 'Virginians deserve leaders who will stand up for their fundamental rights and against efforts to roll them back.'
The issue is already shaping up to be a key campaign battleground, with stark contrasts emerging between the two declared candidates for governor.
Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the presumptive Republican nominee, openly opposed the right-to-contraception bill, casting a tie-breaking vote against it in the Senate in January, after Democrats had strategically forced her to take a public stance on the measure by engineering a 19-19 tie in the chamber.
With Sen. Lashrecse Aird, D-Petersburg, abstaining and Sen. Jeremy McPike, D-Prince William, voting against the bill to trigger the tie, Earle-Sears was compelled to cast the deciding vote against it. However, under Senate rules, McPike's vote allowed him to request reconsideration, ultimately enabling the bill to advance.
While Earle-Sears and Spanberger have months to revisit the issue on the campaign trail, Youngkin has until March 24 to decide the fate of the many bills that have cleared the legislature.
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