RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) – On Thursday, April 4, about a dozen people, including advocates and state lawmakers marched from the General Assembly Building to the Governor’s Mansion with a box containing over 37,000 signatures from people urging him to sign bills establishing a person’s right to contraception in Virginia.
“Governor Youngkin, our message is clear, concise, and simple,” Delegate Destiny Levere Bolling said at a press conference before the march. “Please sign the bill.”
Currently, Virginians already have that right, but lawmakers say they’re simply being proactive after Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas suggested recently that the court reconsidered its previous cases on contraception.
“My bill protects the right to use contraceptives,” State Senator Ghazala Hashmi explained. “That includes condoms, the pill, IUDs, and Plan B. Should this legislation be signed, as it must be signed by the governor, we would be protecting the right to contraception in Virginia, in the same way, we have already protected abortion access.”
Governor Youngkin has already amended a bill passed by the General Assembly having to do with insurance companies’ coverage for contraception. Youngkin added language to include protections for plan sponsors with sincerely held religious or moral beliefs.
Youngkin has until April 8th to decide on Senator Hashmi’s bill and a companion bill from Delegate Cia Price.
