Dr. Ralph Northam, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, released the following statement after members of the House of Delegates voted today to sustain Governor Terry McAuliffe’s veto of HB 2264. The legislation would have cut off state funding to Planned Parenthood health centers across the Commonwealth.
“I thank Governor McAuliffe for standing by his promise to be a brick wall against attacks on a woman’s access to reproductive health care, and I applaud members of the House of Delegates for standing with him and sustaining his veto today,” Lt. Gov. Northam said. “Access to health care should not be a partisan issue, and I am disappointed that ideology has made it a political football.”
“I proposed a pilot program to expand access to contraception for Virginia women for two years. Each year, opponents spread misinformation that some forms of contraception cause abortion, even though the science says otherwise. I believe Virginia women deserve better, and I will continue to advocate for access to the highest quality of healthcare for all women.”
-Submitted by Alexsis Rodgers