Virginia Senator Ghazala Hashmi (D-SD15), chair of the Senate Education and Health Committee and chief Senate sponsor of the Virginia Right to Contraception Act (SB1105/HB1716), is urging Governor Glenn Youngkin to sign the legislation. The Governor has until 11:59 p.m. on May 2 to act on the bill.
In a statement issued on April 25, 2025, Senator Hashmi, who is also a candidate for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, highlighted recent developments in Tennessee, stating, “Just yesterday in Tennessee—a state with a Republican trifecta and a Republican supermajority in both chambers of the legislature—the governor signed a bill codifying the right to contraception.”
Hashmi criticized Governor Youngkin for, as she described, repeatedly attempting to obstruct similar protections in Virginia. She noted that Youngkin had delayed and denied access to contraception through tactics such as proposing amendments that she said would undermine the bill’s intent, as well as vetoing similar legislation last year.
This opposition, Hashmi emphasized, comes despite broad support for contraceptive access among Democratic, Republican, and independent voters.
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“I sponsored the Right to Contraception Act because in the face of Trump’s attacks on our rights, we can no longer rely on federal protections alone,” she said. “It’s time for the governor to listen to the people he represents rather than extremists in his own party led by Donald Trump, stop playing political games with the health care of Virginians, and sign the Right to Contraception Act.”
