by Ashleigh Crocker

Well, we’ve known this was coming since Roe fell in June. Republicans in Virginia are trying to ban abortion in Virignia. Tomorrow, the Health Professions Subcommittee of the Senate Education and Health Committee will hear two bills and a resolution that would ban abortion. 

Everyone, everywhere, all the time, should be able to decide whether and when they want to become a parent for themselves. These bills are an affront to every single family in Virginia. By supporting these bills, Republicans like Senator Amanda Chase, Senator Siobhan Dunnavant, Senator Steve Newman, and Senator Travis Hackworth are trying to take away your freedom to do with your life as you please. To that I say, hell no and f*ck you very much. 

I’m a mom, and I wanted my two kids desperately. I planned for them, budgeted for them, and structured by life so that I would be in the best position possible before choosing to become a parent. My first pregnancy was a difficult one. I ended up in the emergency room four times before I was induced early. It was scary and hard, and while I was worrying about my baby, I was also worrying about the bills I knew would be coming. I was fully insured, but I still had $15,000 in unexpected medical bills I didn’t know how I would pay. And that’s despite all the planning and budgeting I did. I’m glad I’m a mom, and those bills were worth every penny because they meant my daughter was safe and healthy. But no one who doesn’t want to become a parent should have to deal with that. Anyone who wants to have an abortion should be able to access it quickly, affordably, and with no questions asked. 

Abortion allows people to go to college, pursue their dreams, and gives them the opportunity to thrive. Abortion is financial security. Abortion is freedom. Abortion is a human right. Abortion is fantastic, and I for one am not going to let some assholes trying to control me take it away. 

So join me in calling your Senators, especially if you are presented by the members of the Health Professions Subcommittee, and tell them HELL NO on these bills. And then come join me tomorrow, Friday, January 20, 2023, at the committee meeting and tell them to their faces exactly why these bills are b*llsh!t. See you there.