Democrats in the General Assembly are taking several tracks in an effort to secure the right to contraception. And they're also hoping to take the issue on the campaign trail.
Health insurance carriers in Virginia would be required to cover contraception under a proposed law introduced by Delegate Candi Mundon King – a Democrat from Prince William County.
"When a woman is pregnant, when a woman is facing a very difficult choice, maybe she has lost her child, the child she hoped for, the child she prayed for – she should not have to wait for a doctor to talk to their lawyer to get access to reproductive freedom," she says.
The House has already passed that bill, and it’ll be considered in the Senate soon, although Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin will have the opportunity to veto it. But he will not be able to veto a proposed constitutional amendment guaranteeing the right to contraception introduced by Senator Jennifer Boysko, a Democrat from Herndon.
"This guarantees in our constitution that we will be treated with dignity and respect and allowed to work with our healthcare professionals to have the best treatment that meets our needs instead of having to come to the General Assembly and ask mother may I, or should we say daddy may I," Boysko says.
Governor Glenn Youngkin is cut out of the amendment process. But before it goes to voters it has to pass again in the next General Assembly. That’s after all 100 seats in the House of Delegates go up for election this November.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
