Virginia Senator Pledges to Introduce Total Abortion Ban and Ban on IVF During 2023 Legislative Session

Richmond, Va. -- Four months after the U.S. Supreme Court revoked the federal constitutional right to abortion, Virginia Senator Amanda Chase vowed to introduce a bill that would ban abortion and in vitro fertilization (IVF) and would create confusion about access to contraception in the Commonwealth. Chase’s proposed bill would establish that life begins at “the moment of conception,” a position in direct opposition to science, medicine, and the will of the majority of Virginians. Chase plans to introduce her extreme legislation during the 2023 Legislative Session, which begins in January.

Statement from Jamie Lockhart, Executive Director of Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia:

“In keeping with tradition, anti-abortion rights state Senator Amanda Chase has pledged to once again introduce legislation that would ban abortion in Virginia. Legislation like this could restrict a wide range of reproductive health care and open the door for prosecutions and investigations of pregnant people who experience pregnancy loss, like certain complications, miscarriage, or stillbirth. Worse still, it could subject those who experience these tremendous losses to criminal convictions and prison sentences. It is absolutely unconscionable that our elected leaders would consider policies that could treat already-vulnerable members of our community with such callous disregard and put them at incredible risk.

The right to access abortion is a public health imperative; when abortion is illegal or inaccessible, people and their families suffer the consequences. Senator Chase and other extreme legislators have been working for years to restrict access to abortion in the Commonwealth, and this latest attempt is nothing new. They have their sights set on a range of reproductive health care — including IVF and some forms of birth control — and if they are successful in curtailing our rights, it will have devastating effects on our families and communities. We know that abortion bans disproportionately harm Black, brown, and Indigenous people, who are less likely to have access to necessary reproductive health care and are more likely to face criminalization as a result of their pregnancy outcomes. We cannot allow out-of-touch politicians to endanger our communities with abortion bans like this one.

This proposal also makes clear that anti-abortion politicians will not stop at banning abortion. Chase’s legislation could have implications for miscarriage management, treatment for ectopic pregnancies, IVF treatment and other assisted reproductive technologies, and even some common types of contraception. Under bills like this, a pregnant person who needs particular medical treatment – like chemotherapy – could be denied necessary care. No politician should ever control someone’s private medical decisions, and Virginians will see this anti-science legislation for exactly what it is: a grave danger to their health, lives, and freedom.”

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^{Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia (PPAV) is a statewide advocacy organization whose mission is to preserve and broaden access to reproductive health care through legislation, public education, electoral activity and litigation in the Commonwealth of Virginia. PPAV works to ensure that individuals and families have the freedom, information, and ability to make their own informed reproductive decisions.}