On May 20th, morning, DPVA hosted a press call with elected officials and reproductive health leaders U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan of Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield), Delegate Cia Price (D-Newport News), Penny Blue of Franklin County, and Lara Bury of Springfield to respond to Governor Glenn Youngkin’s veto of the Right to Contraception Act (HB609 and SB237). Governor Youngkin and MAGA Republicans continue to push for dangerous and extreme measures that could leave Virginians at risk of losing access to a wide range of contraceptive methods. On the call, the lawmakers and leaders had a simple message: This veto highlights the importance of electing President Biden and Vice President Harris this November so Donald Trump and Republicans cannot enact a national abortion ban and other restrictions to reproductive freedom.

Find Highlights Below

U.S. Rep. Jennifer McClellan: “By laying the groundwork for the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Trump has emboldened his MAGA allies across the country, and in the last two years, we continue to hear MAGA politicians say quite explicitly that contraception should be next. In Congress, I am a proud cosponsor of the Right to Contraception Act, but we have to flip the House, keep the Senate, and re-elect President Biden and Vice President Harris to make it a reality.”

Senator Ghazala Hashmi: “Nowhere is the threat to contraception more clear than in the votes and in the veto that just occurred. Every Republican in the state Senate voted against this bill and our governor vetoed it. He can give any excuse he wants to, but his veto pen speaks louder than words. He simply will not protect the right to contraception and that has been made clear.”

Delegate Cia Price: “The governor knows this bill is supported by 8 in 10 people, which is why he tries to talk from both sides of his mouth. But instead of listening to the 8 in 10, he chose to appease the ultra-right wing of his party and he bent to extremist ideologies at the expense of our freedom to decide if and when to start a family. I want to know if he agrees with them and their backward thinking.”

Penny Blue: “I ask women and all across Virginia to put aside politics and party and vote our own interests, and not allow anyone to take us back 100 years, but to support leaders up and down the ballot that support women’s reproductive freedom.”

Lara Bury: “[Governor Youngkin’s] decision showed us once again, we are right to be fearful of how far this will go. What is staring us in the face is that extremists want to and are making it possible to eliminate our reproductive choices. I lived my entire life without needing to think about access to birth control, as it should be. It should be guaranteed that we have the choices in our reproductive health.”

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