Legislation announced Thursday in Richmond would prevent birth-control options from being regulated by Virginia’s abortion laws.
Del. Kristen Amundson, D-Fairfax, introduced the bill in response to legislation filed in previous years by anti-abortion lawmakers that would make it harder for women to access birth control. Specifically, the measure would apply to emergency contraception, know as the morning-after pill. Amundson’s measure spells out that any form of birth control approved by the federal Food and Drug Administration cannot be considered abortion.
Some conservative lawmakers contend the pill is a form of abortion and have sought to regulate it. Their proposals, introduced in previous years, would require a teen’s parents be notified if she wanted the pill and prohibit it from being distributed on college campuses.
“The best way to prevent unintended pregnancies and reduce the need for abortion is to ensure that women and families have access to contraceptive services,” Amundson said. “This bill ensures that birth control will be protected in Virginia.”
Amundson’s bill faces long odds. It has been assigned the House Health, Welfare and Institutions Committee, which has been friendly to restrictions on abortion.
Shortly before Amundson held a news conference to publicize her bill, the panel approved a bill that would require abortion clinics to comply with the same regulations as outpatient surgery facilities.
The full House has passed the standards bill before, but it has died in the Senate’s health committee, which has been hostile to many abortion restrictions in recent years.
The sponsor of that bill, Del. Robert Marshall, R-Manassas, also introduced a bill that would automatically outlaw abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court ever overturns Roe v. Wade, the decision that said states could not outlaw abortion.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Marshall said earlier this week.
Amundson discussed her bill as part of day of lobbying in Richmond by reproductive rights groups.
“Virginians don’t want [abortion] bans, they don’t want criminalization,” said Mira Signer, director of statewide organizing for Planned Parenthood in Virginia. “They want to put prevention and health care first.”
