By Kierra Johnson
On April 5th, just before the weekend, Governor Glenn Youngkin vetoed 11 bills after signing 88 others. His vetoes included several abortion bills. One of them was HB1539, which would have protected abortion providers from being extradited to other states for prosecution for simply doing their jobs.. HB519 would have protected doctors from being charged with a crime for providing abortion care.
These bills would have been an important layer of protection for abortion providers in Virginia doctors, especially because Virginia is the last state in the South with abortion access. Those who are seeking safe access to abortion are already being relegated to traveling out of state for care, and to make matters worse, conservatives want to prosecute both doctors and patients. These bills would have added much-needed protections, and they would have incentivized doctors to remain in Virginia. Instead, Governor Youngkin struck them down just to throw red meat to his base and increase his national profile.But that makes one of his other choices look strange.
The abortion bills were vetoed as expected, but Governor Youngkin signed a bill that prohibits the use of healthcare data for search warrants and subpoenas. This is likely because privacy and surveillance are major concerns across the political spectrum, especially among conservative voters. A closer look at this bill makes Youngkin’s choice more confusing, though, because it sends the message that data deserves more privacy than actual people. Regardless of party affiliation, the difference between his action on this bill and abortion needs to be called into question because the same reservations about privacy and data amongst voters are directly related to confidence between doctors and patients.
Now is the perfect time to support the campaign of a candidate running for governor who will protect reproductive rights in Virginia and support the healthcare needs of birthing people. Representative Abigail Spanberger is in the running, and another Democrat candidate is Levar Stoney. Research these Democratic candidates as well as the Democratic candidates in your district, and be sure to vote for them in November. This election will be crucial to the future of healthcare and many other issues, and like Virginia’s last election, voters turning out in support of candidates looking to protect them is just as important.