From the Virginia Senate Democratic caucus:
Senate Democrats Speak Out Against Sen. Garrett's Indefensible Anti-Choice Bill
RICHMOND, VA — Today, Senate Democrats issued the following statement on Senator Thomas Garrett's bill ending funding for abortions for poor women who are carrying a fetus with totally incapacitating deformities, SB 826. With the legislative session just two days away, Senate Republicans appear poised to continue their war on women and their radical, overreaching agenda that is taking Virginia backwards.
SB 826 would end the subsidies for abortions for Medicaid-eligible women who are carrying a fetus which would be would be born with a “gross and totally incapacitating physical deformity or mental deficiency.”
Senator Barbara Favola (D-Arlington) said, “SB 826 will leave the poorest Virginia women without any options when their pregnancy goes terribly wrong. Senator Garrett would force the poorest women in the Commonwealth to carry to term a child with gross and incapacitating abnormalities. These decisions are personal and intimate decisions that should be made by a woman in consultation with her family and her doctor. Poor women should not have their rights trampled on by the Commonwealth It's clear that Republicans have not learned the lesson of 2012 and are continuing to pursue a divisive anti-women agenda.”
“As Virginians we have a responsibility to care for the least among us. Senator Garrett would force vulnerable women to bring a child tragically incompatible with life into the world,” said Senator Donald McEachin (D-Henrico). “No woman plans to have an abortion, but every woman should have the option to make the best choice possible for herself and her family, especially in these tragic circumstances. SB 826 would cruelly take that choice away from the poorest women. These are families who already do not have the resources, let alone for a child with huge abnormalities.”
“In the coming Session, we will fight to ensure all women and families have the access to the safe and affordable health care options they need to make the necessary choices for their families. We will fight this punitive measure that just furthers the war on women,” Senator McEachin concluded.
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