VA Senate Dems – “Republicans Reveal Their Real Healthcare Agenda: Ban All Abortions”

From the Virginia Senate Democratic Caucus:

Republicans Reveal Their Real Healthcare Agenda: Ban All Abortions

Senate Democrats Stand with Women to Protect Access to Comprehensive Reproductive Healthcare

Richmond–Senate Democratic Caucus Chair Mamie Locke (D-Hampton) released the following statement after the passage of an abortion ban in Alabama yesterday. This ban follows the passage of fetal heart beat bills in Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky and Mississippi this year.

During a radio interview last week, Virginia Delegate Bob Thomas (R-Fredericksburg) stated that if Republicans maintain their majorities in the Virginia legislature next year and elect a Republican governor in 2021, they will move to pass a similar heartbeat bill in Virginia.

“Republicans in state legislatures across the country have made their intentions clear: ban all abortions. Here in Virginia, Republicans routinely attack women’s access to safe and legal abortion care. This year, they unleashed an all-out war on women by spreading incendiary misinformation and lies about reproductive health care bills before the General Assembly during the 2019 session.

“Virginia Senate Democrats continue to stand with women to ensure that all women, regardless of race or socio-economic status, have access to safe, legal, and comprehensive reproductive healthcare. The decision to have an abortion is never an easy one and women deserve the right to make those deeply personal decisions without the interference of politicians.

“The Alabama law has not taken effect yet so women in the state continue to have access to safe and legal abortions. Virginia Senate Democrats stand with the organizations fighting this regressive legislation and we proclaim: It’s time we retake a majority in the Virginia Senate to ensure that Virginia women never have to question whether they’ll lose access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare.”

###

The legislation passed in Alabama yesterday bans abortion at every stage of pregnancy, including in the case of a miscarriage, and criminalizes the procedure for doctors, who could be charged with felonies and face up to 99 years in prison. The bill’s architects have admitted that they expect that lower courts will block the legislation and have insisted they will appeal to the Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe vs. Wade. With the passage of this bill, Alabama supersedes the actions of Georgia, Ohio, Kentucky, and Mississippi who have all passed fetal heartbeat bills this year.