Virginians are about to have a right to contraception.
Last year, Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears used her power to break ties in the Senate to vote against a bill establishing a right to contraception. Democrats engineered the tie vote to get her on the record, and then they used her opposition on the campaign to defeat her in the election for governor. Now, Governor Abigail Spanberger is signing the legislation, which was introduced by Senator Jennifer Carroll Foy, a Democrat from Prince William County.
"This bill is about protecting women's health, our future, our fundamental rights and our freedom," Foy says.
The new law establishes an individual's right to use and a doctor's right to prescribe FDA-approved methods of contraception. That includes condoms, oral contraceptives, IUDs and emergency contraceptives. Advocates say the new law is needed as a reaction to Justice Clarence Thomas, who says the Supreme Court "should reconsider" the right to contraception.
"It's really important that as we see so much from the federal level being kicked to the state level that we continue to work to protect Virginians’ right[s] and their access to contraception," says Delegate Cia Price, a Democrat from Newport News.
The previous governor vetoed similar legislation twice. Now, Virginia has a new governor, and she is putting her signature on the bill. The attorney general will be able to start enforcing the new law this summer.
