Virginia governor vetoes pro-contraception legislation over religious concerns
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Caroline Molloy
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Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed two legislative packages May 2 that would have established a “right to contraception” in the state and forced insurance companies to cover contraception without exceptions for religious organizations.
According to Dogwood, the state’s Democratic-controlled General Assembly passed the first package, House Bill 1716 and Senate Bill 1105, earlier this year. The package would have allowed birth control pills, IUDs, and other methods of contraception and banned restrictions on its sale or distribution. While he wrote in his official veto statement that he supports access to contraception, Youngkin vetoed it on the grounds that contraception is already protected by the U.S. Constitution, adding that the bill “contains significant flaws by creating overly broad rights of action.”
“The legislation also fails to include adequate conscience clause protections for health care providers and weakens the fundamental right of parents to guide the upbringing and care of their children, which the General Assembly refused to adopt,” he wrote.
Youngkin vetoed a similar bill almost exactly a year ago. This year, he also vetoed a second package that sought to require health insurance plans that cover outpatient prescription drugs to also cover contraceptives.
According to his veto statement, Youngkin had asked the General Assembly to include a conscience clause in the bill that would have exempted organizations with religious beliefs about contraception from covering it.
“Without such protections, many organizations would be forced to violate their religious or ethical beliefs about contraception should this bill have become law,” Youngkin stated. “These entities would thus be forced to choose between following the law or following their deeply and sincerely held beliefs — a choice the Commonwealth must not require them to make.”
However, state legislators refused to add the amendment to the bill, resulting in the veto.
