Understanding the Surge of Anti-Choice Bills in Virginia

Yesterday the Virginia State Senate passed an invasive bill which would require people seeking abortions in Virginia to first have an ultrasound. Although women would not be forced to view their ultrasound (which some states do require), they would be encouraged to do so, and it would put an unnecessary fiscal and emotional burden on women seeking abortions (and women have to go through A LOT to have an abortion because of superflous regulations). From the editorial, “Richmond’s focus turns to abortion” (by the way, the Republicans were elected with a what? oh, a jobs mandate. I’m not sure why Republicans hear “ABORTION” when people say “JOBS” but it’s a fairly common national issue):

The state bill requires women who live less than 100 miles from a provider to have an ultrasound at least 24 hours before they undergo an abortion, ensuring they’ll have to make arrangements for work, travel and family obligations on at least two days instead of one.

Having an abortion in Virginia can already be a grueling process, and to pass a bill like this is a further completely unnecessary imposition. Janet D. Howell, a Democrat representing Fairfax County (she’s my state senator, and is, in my opinion, completely awesome), was so furious with the bill that she attempted to add an amendment that would require men who want erectile dysfunction medication to first have a rectal exam and a cardiac exam prior to getting such a prescription. Her amendment, which is called a “poison pill” (an amendment that would ensure a bill could never pass), was rejected by only two votes. Because ultrasounds are not medically necessary prior to having an abortion, but anti-choice lawmakers want them to be mandatory, Howell felt that it was “only fair” that men have to experience the same inconvenience.

This was meant to be a quick hit, but there is so much going on in Virginia that I couldn’t make it all that quick. Check behind the cut for more anti-choice laws that have been introduced in VA:

In other anti-choice Virginia news, Republican Bob Marshall has introduced a Personhood bill into the House of Delegates. We’ve posted about the ridiculous, harmful Personhood movement before, but for those not in the know, Personhood would grant full rights to a fertilized egg. In doing so, it outright bans abortion (which is illegal, given that abortion is a Constitutionally protected civil right), but it also takes that super extreme step of banning hormonal birth control. (As reproductive justice advocates know, the ONLY WAY to curb abortion rates is to promote birth control and expand access to contraceptives. To ban birth control is so counterproductive just thinking about it puts my brain on the verge of explosion). What is alarming about this is that introducing Personhood through state legislatures is a new tactic. Having the public vote on Personhood even failed in Mississippi because even anti-choice people think it’s too extreme. But Personhood actually has a very high chance of passing in the anti-choice Virginia state assembly. We could be one of the first states to actually enact one of these illegal Personhood bills. (I say illegal because it violates the content of both Griswold v. Connecticut and Roe v. Wade).

A particularly harmful bill is also introduced into the Virginia House: HB  62 would end Medicaid funding for abortion in cases where the fetus is would have serious, incapacitating physical or mental abnormalities. As I have previously posted about, 42% of women seeking abortions are below the federal poverty line. These women need state funding to have abortions, and they typically have abortions because  of their financial position. Abortion can be an expensive procedure, but it is less costly than having a child whose needs cannot be met with minimum wage paychecks. Do you think that the Virginia government would give financial aid to families who need to take care of children they can’t afford? The answer to that question is pretty simple: fuck no. It is unconscionable for the Virginia government to economically force women to carry pregnancies they cannot fucking afford and then not even offer aid. In fact, they’re cutting aid and Medicaid spending and cutting other programs that help low-income individuals in Virginia. It looks like Virginia Republicans come from the Mitt Romney “I don’t care about the very poor” school of thought.

Add all of this to current anti-choice Virginia laws which stipulate that:

• 2nd trimester abortions must be performed in hospitals
• abortion is prohibited in the 3rd trimester (exception for cases for the life of the mother or fetal abnormality, but the above laws would scrap this)
• “partial-birth abortion” (not a medical term, PBA is a highly politicized term that was made up by Republican Representative Charles Canady) is banned
• state funding is limited (and will be essentially banned with HB 62)
• women must have biased anti-choice counseling prior to an abortion
• a woman must wait 24-hours before having an abortion after talking to a physician (an imposition, once again, on low-income women)
• minors (anyone under 18) must have parental consent before an abortion

And TRAP (Targeted Regulations Against Abortion Providers) laws which I explained, in depth, last fall. In short, these laws put undue and unnecessary (jeez, I’m using that word a lot in this post, aren’t I?) burdens on abortion providers that have nothing to do with medical safety and everything to do with political agendas to end abortion. Essentially, and this is the important point, what all of this means together is that abortion is nearly impossible already for some Virginia women. The ultrasounds are another baby step towards an abortion ban. And Personhood? Well, that’s the abortion (and birth control) ban itself.

So what can you do? (I was just going to end the post there, but I figured I’d give us all a faint glimmer of hope). Join the Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health and sign their petition fighting the TRAP laws. Write to your state Senator and Delegate, and let them know that what is happening in Virginia is not fucking okay with the people who live in Virginia. (Find out who represents you here). Come to Dukes for Choice’s pro-choice lobby day on the Commons, on February 23 to a) learn more about these regulations b) write letters against them and c) get involved with actively trying to stop these ridiculous, harmful, and dangerous anti-choice measures in Virginia.