Virginia Governor Announces Signing of Extreme Abortion Bill on Good Friday
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) announced on Good Friday that he signed into law a bill his new Democrat majority
rushed to approve, one that repeals most restrictions on abortion in the state.
Northam
minimized the extremity of the Reproductive Health Protection Act, referring in a press release to the restrictions on abortion that are now repealed as “anti-women’s health laws.”
“No more will legislators in Richmond—most of whom are men—be telling women what they should and should not be doing with their bodies,” Northam said in an accompanying statement. “The Reproductive Health Protection Act will make women and families safer, and I’m proud to sign it into law.”
Senate Bill 733 and
House Bill 980, which are identical pieces of legislation, rescind the required 24-hour waiting period, ultrasound, and counseling prior to having an abortion.
In addition, the measures allow non-physicians to perform abortions and roll back building safety standards in abortion clinics that are required of other outpatient facilities, restrictions Northam and Democrats say are used to force closures of abortion facilities and block access to the procedure.