Life’s Challenges this Session
This morning the House Privileges and Elections committee finally voted to carry over to the 2025 session two constitutional amendments we’ve been warning you about that would initiate the process of amending the state constitution to enshrine unlimited abortion in the state constitution (HJ 1) and redefine the institution of marriage (HJ 9).
With this action, efforts to amend the state constitution appear to be postponed until next year. (Click HERE to learn how the state constitution is amended.)
However, this week we were part of a contentious debate over two bills intended to protect unborn babies and their mothers from the brutal practice of abortion. HB 1364 (R-Griffin) would have protected all lives from the moment of conception by prohibiting all abortions in Virginia, unless it was necessary in order to save the life of the mother. HB 1184 (R-Scott, P.A.) would have prohibited any abortion that was being undertaken be based upon the sex or ethnicity of the unborn child. Both bills failed in a House Courts of Justice subcommittee.
Last week we also reported how all the Democrats on a House committee defeated The Born Alive Infant Protection Act (HB 664), introduced by Delegate Nick Freitas (R-Culpeper), which would’ve required a licensed physician who attempts to terminate a pregnancy to (i) do everything medically to preserve the life and health of a baby who has been born alive following a failed abortion in the same way as any other child born alive and (ii) transfer the live baby to a hospital for further medical care.
Of course, the battle to defend the sanctity of life from the embryo stage all the way to natural death is not over. Below are some of the bills we will be working hard to OPPOSE as we prepare for the second half of the session.
HB 858 (D-Hope) and SB 280 (D-Hashmi) would allow a so-called medical doctor to prescribe an adult diagnosed with a terminal condition medication to purposefully end their life (i.e., physician assisted suicide). HB 858 passed House Health and Human Services Committee 12-10; SB 280 passed Senate 21-19.
HB 110 (D-Sullivan) would repeal the current prohibition on receiving payments to procure a surrogate mother to carry someone else’s child. The bill would open up Pandora’s box for the exploitation and commoditizing of vulnerable women and countless children. Passed House 51-49
SB 15 (D-Favola) and HB 1539 (D-Simon) would prohibit the Governor from extraditing a person in Virginia who has committed abortion-related crimes in other states. This is designed to create a safe-haven for people who are mailing unsafe abortion-inducing drugs from Virginia into other states where such chemical abortions are illegal. SB 15 passed Courts of Justice Committee 9-6; HB 1539 passed Courts of Justice Committee 12-10
HB 519 (D-Mundon King) would prohibit the Board of Medicine from disciplining doctors licensed in Virginia for performing abortions (and prescribing/distributing abortion pills) in other states where abortion is illegal. Passed Health and Human Services Committee 13-8
HB 819 (D-Mundon King) and SB 238 (D-Hashmi) would require all health insurance companies to cover the cost of contraceptive drugs and devices that include abortion causing drugs. HB 819 passed House 65-31 and SB 238 Passed Senate 24-15
HB 78 (D-Watts) and SB 16 (D-Favola) seek to prohibit any search warrants from being issued that could obtain information about “menstrual health data” in any form. These bills would limit the scope of search warrants that are used to investigate very specific crimes that involve fetal homicide. Both passed House (12-10) and Senate (9-6) committees and will be voted on next week.
HB 609 (D-Price) and SB 237 (D-Hashmi) create a presumed right to contraceptive drugs and devices that includes abortion causing drugs, without any religious protections for doctors/prescribers. Both passed House (14-8) and Senate (9-6) committees and will be voted on next week.
As you can see, defending the sanctity of life this session is far from over and our Policy team will continue to do what they can to prevent these bills from advancing. Please continue to pray for legislators that they would make decisions that affirm and protect life, not devalue it.
