CV NEWS FEED // Bishops Michael Burbidge and Barry Knestout of Virginia have issued a statement of approval following Governor Glenn Youngkin’s decision to veto two damaging contraceptive laws.
“We are pleased that Governor Youngkin has vetoed SB 237/HB 609 and SB 238/HB 819,” the bishops wrote. “These bills threatened to compel organizations to provide and pay for contraceptives and even some abortion-inducing drugs and devices against their deeply and sincerely held beliefs.”
Burbidge and Knestout continued:
These two sets of coercive, expansive, and extremely harmful bills were rightfully rejected for many reasons, including those that previously led Hobby Lobby and the Little Sisters of the Poor all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. We are grateful to Governor Youngkin for protecting life, liberty, and parental rights.
We also thank the more than 2,000 people who used the Virginia Catholic Conference’s action alert regarding this legislation to provide vital input to the Governor’s office. Your participation matters and your voices were valued.
As CatholicVote previously reported on April 29, the two laws in question sought to broaden access to contraception, but lacked protections against the exploitation of minors and those with religious or conscientious objections.
Bill SB 237/HB 609 attempted to guarantee unlimited access to contraceptives, but contained no mention of legal age requirements, thereby leaving open the possibility of legal contraceptive access to minors.
The second measure, SB 238/HB 819 sought to require that health insurance plans cover contraceptives, but did not contain religious exemptions for faith-based organizations.
Youngkin wrote in a statement following the May 17 decision that while he personally supports access to contraception, he opposed the two bills which he said “trample on religious freedoms of Virginians.”
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