HB 609 / SB 237 – Don’t Create a Right to Contraception that includes abortifacients and undermines Virginia’s parental consent law!

These bills create a presumed right to contraceptive drugs and devices that can result in an abortion, without any religious protections for doctors or prescribers.  The bills state that “[a] person shall have the right to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception.”  Since “person” is not limited to adults, this would presumably include minors.

The bills also state that “[a] health care provider shall have the right to provide contraceptives and contraception-related information.”  Under this bill, a "health care provider" means the same as that term is defined in § 8.01-581.1, which includes pharmacists, dentists, optometrists, podiatrists, chiropractors, physical therapists, psychologists, social workers marriage and family therapists, and others. Therefore, these professionals would have the “right” under the bill to provide contraceptives and abortion causing drugs.

Finally, since the bills would give minors the right to contraception including the “the use of sterilization procedures," the legislation would actually give minors the presumed right to sterilization procedures and undermine the parental consent law for minors to have a surgical procedure.