Lawmakers within the Virginia House of Delegates — managed by Democrats who flipped the chamber in November after campaigning on abortion rights — decisively voted down a invoice that might have instituted a near-total abortion ban.
On a bipartisan 8-0 vote Wednesday night time, a House subcommittee rejected the measure that might have prohibited abortions besides in circumstances essential to save lots of the mom’s life, the Richmond-Times Dispatch reported.
Bill sponsor Tim Griffin, a freshman Republican from Bedford, confronted questions in regards to the implications his invoice would have for miscarriage care and rape victims. He responded that the invoice was about “protecting unborn children and women,” in accordance with the newspaper.
REPUBLICAN VIRGINIA GOV. YOUNGKIN TO REVIEW DEMOCRAT-LED GUN CONTROL MEASURES
On a party-line vote, Democrats on the identical panel voted down a special invoice that might have prohibited abortions sought on the premise of the intercourse or race of the fetus.
Abortion was a central theme in final yr’s legislative elections, when each General Assembly seat was on the poll. Democrats campaigned on a promise to guard entry to abortion in Virginia, which has among the South’s most permissive legal guidelines and is the one state within the area that has not imposed new abortion restrictions since Roe v. Wade fell. The difficulty was seen as serving to energy Democrats’ capacity to carry the state Senate and flip management of the House.
Republicans in aggressive districts largely coalesced round GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposal to ban abortions after 15 weeks, with exceptions for rape, incest and the lifetime of the mom.
Morgan Hopkins, a spokeswoman for the House Democratic caucus, mentioned Wednesday night time’s votes marked a achievement of the get together’s marketing campaign path pledge.
“For months, House Democrats told Virginians that a Democratic majority would protect their rights and freedoms and this subcommittee did just that tonight. We believe the choice to seek reproductive healthcare — and it is healthcare — should always be a decision between a woman and her doctor, not politicians,” she mentioned in a written assertion shared with The Associated Press.
A spokesman for the House GOP caucus, Garren Shipley, declined to remark.
Advancing this session are Democratic-sponsored payments that might stop the issuance of search warrants for digital or digital menstrual well being information. Proponents say the measures would afford girls privateness safety and forestall such info from being weaponized in potential abortion-related court docket circumstances. Similar laws handed the Senate on a bipartisan vote final yr however was opposed by the Youngkin administration and died within the House of Delegates, which was then managed by Republicans.
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Democrats have additionally vowed to begin the yearslong technique of searching for so as to add abortion protections to the state Constitution, although they opted to postpone debate over the precise language till subsequent yr. Doing so doesn’t affect the timeline by which voters would have the ability to contemplate a proposed modification.