Richmond, Virginia—In a move that highlights the chasm between Virginia Republicans’ rhetoric and their legislative platform, Governor Glenn Youngkin has chosen the week of Mothers’ Day to veto a bill seeking to enshrine the right of Virginians to access contraception. Youngkin, who campaigned as a champion of families and an advocate for parents’ rights, has vetoed several significant pieces of legislation in his last term that would have given parents the right to plan the size of their family, to support their children and to take paid time off to welcome a new child or to help care for a sick family member. 

Youngkin’s veto of HB1716, the Right to Contraception Act, came this week after the General Assembly rejected Youngkin’s amendment that would have defanged the bill by adding a so-called “conscience clause” for care providers.  The bill, which enjoyed bipartisan support and backing from medical professionals, sought to enshrine Virginians’ right to access birth control methods, including IUDs and emergency contraception. Prior to Youngkin’s veto, 37,000 community members signed a petition urging the Governor to pass the bill, and advocates stressed the urgency of affirmative protection for contraception, given challenges from the federal government, several states, and the Supreme Court. The legislation was also opposed by Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Sears, who cast a tie-breaking vote  against the legislation when Democrats in the General Assembly forced a vote on the issue. 

“This week, we should expect to see a lot of Republican social media talking about how important moms are,” said LaTwyla Mathias, Executive Director at Progress Virginia. “They love talking about families until it comes time to vote for a single piece of legislation that would help moms have autonomy over their bodies, allow working moms to take the time they need to care for their kids, or to make sure they can put food on the table, keep the lights on, and keep a roof over their heads. This is unacceptable hypocrisy, pure and simple: they’ll use moms as part of their warm fuzzy optics while making policy decisions that actively harm women’s health and economic security. Their actions matter more than their rhetoric, and we’ll keep making sure folks watch what they do rather than what they say.”