by James A. Bacon

Yesterday the Virginia Senate passed the “Right to Contraception Act,” guaranteeing Virginians “the right to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception,” in a party-line vote with Republicans in opposition. In the run-up to passage of the bill, Senate Democrats engineered a vote that put Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, the likely Republican candidate for governor, on record against it.

Democrats were quick to exploit the vote.

“Virginians deserve a governor who will defend their reproductive freedoms – not pretend that threats to their rights aren’t real. When this legislation comes across my desk as governor, I will sign the right to contraception into law,” said Abigail Spanberger, the favored Democratic nominee, in a statement issued on Tuesday, as reported by the Augusta Free-Press.

“As a proud mom of three girls, I find it unacceptable that some politicians believe they’re entitled to a say in families’ personal medical decisions,” she added. “I believe in Virginians’ fundamental right to privacy, and I believe we must make sure that right is protected for future generations.”

Republicans were caught flat-footed.

Earle-Sears offered no immediate statement explaining her vote, and Republican lawmakers gave mixed messages. Senator David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke, said the bill would create new opportunities for litigation. “It creates a whole new right to sue and [that] might be very exciting for attorneys, but that’s not actually what we are trying to do on contraceptives.”

WRIC-TV also reported that Republicans worried that the bill protects access to abortion pills by mail, although bill sponsor State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, says it doesn’t. News accounts reported no comment from the Governor’s Office either.

Democrats totally controlled the messaging in the news cycle, administering a severe butt-kicking to the Republicans.

Democrats have successfully hammered Republicans with the abortion issue both nationally and here in Virginia, despite widespread misgivings about the procedure in the late stages of pregnancy. The public is not diffident about contraception. Eighty percent of Americans oppose government restrictions on contraception: not just Democrats (80% opposed) but 75% of Republicans and 70% of independents.

There may be politically palatable reasons for opposing the Right to Contraception Act, but they weren’t apparent in this news cycle. Spanberger’s TV ads highlighting Earle-Sears’ vote practically write themselves.

This is a total loser for Republicans.

What prompted Hashmi to submit the bill? It’s not as if GOP legislators were threatening to restrict Virginians’ access to contraception. Rather than point to any action by Republican lawmakers, she cited comments by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas that the high court might revisit previous rulings regarding Americans’ right to contraception. 

“After the fall of Roe. vs. Wade, what we heard and saw from one of our Supreme Court justices is that he is ready to revisit the decision, the Griswold decision of 1965 putting access to contraception in jeopardy,” said Hashmi. 

SB1105 is straightforward:

A person shall have the right to obtain contraceptives and to engage in contraception. A health care provider shall have the right to provide contraceptives and contraception-related information.

The rights specified … shall not be infringed upon by any law, regulation, or policy that expressly or effectively limits, delays, or impedes access to contraceptives or information related to contraception.

The Bill also specifies that anyone, including a healthcare provider or patient, adversely impacted by an alleged violation of the chapter may commence a civil action.

The only reason I can think of for opposing the bill would be that it might prohibit a rule blocking the sale of contraception to minors. But that objection did not crop up in media reports. If the Republicans had had their wits about them, they would have tried to amend the bill to include that exception, forcing Democrats to defend the controversial peddling of contraceptives to school-age children.

Republican spin-meisters had better come up with a good explanation of why they unanimously opposed this bill — and it better be an explanation that can boiled down to a sound bite — or the Dems will be kicking pachyderm patootie from now until election day.