RICHMOND, Va. – In a series of key votes Thursday, Virginia Senate Democrats rejected several bills that would have restricted abortion access in the state, including a proposed 15-week ban with exemptions that was a priority for Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
These are the first crucial legislative votes in Virginia since the Supreme Court’s decision last year banning Roe v. Wade fell. The votes mean such restrictions are unlikely to be enacted this year in Virginia unless it is an extraordinary procedural step, which currently has some of the most permissive abortion laws in the South.
“The truth is, as long as Senate Democrats have our majority, the wall will remain strong and these extreme bills will never pass,” Sen. L. Louise Lucas said in a press conference after the hearing.
Several similar measures are still alive in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives, but have not yet begun to make headway. Anything that clears the House is likely to be defeated in the Senate as well.
Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert said earlier this year he didn’t expect much progress on abortion this year given Virginia’s divided government.
Youngkin spokeswoman Macaulay Porter said Senate Democrats had “consolidated their extreme position” and acted against the wishes of Virginians, who want “a reasonable compromise” on the issue.
Virginia law currently allows first and second trimester abortions. The procedure may only be performed during the third trimester if multiple doctors certify that continuing the pregnancy is likely to impair the woman’s mental or physical health “significantly and irreparably” or result in her death.
On Thursday, the Senate Committee on Education and Health, which Lucas chairs, voted the three measures on a party-line basis and without debate after a subcommittee previously heard testimony and recommended thwarting them.
The Youngkin-supported measure up, sponsored by Republican Senator Steve Newman, would have banned abortions after 15 weeks except for rape, incest, and the life or physical well-being of the woman. Violations by a doctor would result in a class four felony, punishable by two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000.
Newman called the proposal a carefully crafted compromise that “supports mothers” and offers “reasonable protection for the unborn child”. He said the measure would not affect medical care for miscarriages, stillbirths and ectopic pregnancies.
“This law in no way criminalizes a woman,” he said when unveiling it earlier this month.
The committee also defeated a less restrictive measure by Republican Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, who is a gynecologist. Your bill would have added new restrictions on third-trimester abortions, only allowing them in cases where the woman’s life is at risk.
It would have allowed abortions up to the second trimester before viability, defined as either 24 weeks or 22 weeks if three doctors agree.
Dunnavant argued that medical advances since the passage of the current Virginia law have pushed the date of viability in a pregnancy earlier.
“If a child can live outside the womb, there is absolutely no reason to abort that child to protect the mother,” she said.
Their bill was defeated 9-6.
Dunnavant, a member of the committee, was absent from the in-person vote, which drew criticism from Democrats. Dunnavant said she was simply late for the meeting and recorded her vote was recorded later.
The third bill rejected came from Republican Senator Travis Hackworth. It would have banned almost all abortions except for rape, incest and the woman’s life, and made performing an “unlawful abortion” a Class Four felony.
“All three dangerous anti-abortion proposals before this committee posed serious threats to the health and rights of Virginians, and we are thrilled to now celebrate their defeat,” said Jamie Lockhart, executive director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia. into a statement.
The result was not surprising. Senate Democrats have vowed since Roe’s decision last year to thwart any effort to limit abortion access.
but The vote of Democratic Senator Aaron Rouse in a special election this month has given her caucus more breathing room. Rouse flipped a seat previously held by a Republican, adding another vote to Democrats’ tight control of the chamber.
One Democratic senator, Joe Morrissey, has previously signaled his willingness to support additional abortion restrictions, even by using an unusual ground procedure that might have allowed the Republican lieutenant governor to cast a crucial vote before Rouse’s victory.
In 2020, the Democrats had full control of the state government at this point, expanded abortion access and eased certain clinic restrictions and promised to make the state a “safe haven” in the South.
This year they are attempting to put forward a proposal that would enshrine a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in the state constitution.
Republicans argue that the amendment would remove all restrictions on elective abortion. Her sponsor, Senator Jennifer McClellan, has said that is not the case, and her intention is to codify the legal framework that existed at the federal level before the Supreme Court’s decision last year.
This suggestion will almost certainly die when it reaches the house.
The future of Virginia’s abortion laws could be determined this fall when each legislative seat is up for a vote.
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