The Quickie: Virginia Joins In On The Constitutional Amendment Fun
For Immediate Release: Nov. 21, 2023
Welcome to “The Quickie” — Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s daily tipsheet on the top health care & reproductive rights stories of the day. You can read “The Quickie'' online here.
In today’s Quickie: Virginia lawmakers announce plans to protect reproductive freedom in the state’s constitution and how cuts to family planning affect Iowans.
ALL EYES ON A CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT FOR VIRGINIA’S NEW PRO-ABORTION RIGHTS LEGISLATURE: Yesterday, Virginia lawmakers announced plans to amend the state’s constitution to protect reproductive freedom. If the measure is approved in the next two consecutive legislative sessions, it would appear on the ballot in 2026.
As drafted, the amendment would provide a fundamental right to reproductive freedom and the right to make decisions about one’s own pregnancy. The Virginia Senate passed the same version of the amendment in 2023.
The move is one of the first made by the newly pro-abortion rights legislature. Soon-to-be House of Delegates Majority Leader Charniele Herring and state Senator Jennifer Boysko sponsored the legislation. "Throughout the campaign cycle we told Virginians that a Democratic Majority meant that abortion access would be protected in the Commonwealth," Herring said in a statement about the caucus’ 2024 priorities. "Today, that reigns true."
CUTS TO FAMILY PLANNING FUNDING IN IOWA CREATE STRAIN: Since 2017, Iowa has turned down federal funding for family planning services, instead opting to create its own program. Provisions of this program include prohibiting family planning facilities, like Planned Parenthood health centers, from receiving funding. New research suggests that by preventing trusted organizations like Planned Parenthood from providing these services, “patients are more likely to forgo those services”.
“Overall, in this environment of limited funding for public health infrastructure, there have been a number of challenges we’ve been facing, whether budget cuts or program restrictions based on the administration that's in power or COVID-19," Allison Smith, executive director of the Family Planning Council of Iowa, told The Des Moines Register. "It just really shortchanges reproductive health services and puts providers and patients in a fragile position.”
Read more in The Des Moines Register.