Virginia General Assembly Update–Week 3
Virginia General Assembly Update–Week 3
Big Victory on Assisted Suicide: Yesterday a Senate committee defeated the assisted suicide bill by a 9-5 vote. To each of you who contacted your senator before the vote, thank you! Your advocacy to protect people with disabilities and other vulnerable patients contributed greatly to this decisive outcome.
Abortion Bills: The same committee also defeated legislation to protect unborn children, including the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act by a 10-5 vote. This very disappointing result reflects the extreme challenges we have faced and will continue to encounter this session in the Senate on abortion-related bills. That said, we thank each of you who took action on our alerts on this critical issue. There will be more alerts to come in the days and weeks ahead, particularly with regard to a proposed “right to abortion” measure we spoke against in a Senate subcommittee this week.
Other Votes: The Senate also passed legislation requiring health plans to cover contraceptives, as well as a bill seeking to codify same-sex marriage in Virginia’s statutory law. We voiced our opposition to these measures in the Senate and our focus now turns to stopping them in the House.
We plan to include each vote described in this update in our end-of-session report, listing each senator’s name and how he or she voted.
Additional Engagement: This week, we also testified in favor of a wide range of measures, including proposals to improve the Education Improvement Scholarships Tax Credits program, help low-income workers by making the earned income credit refundable, make especially expensive prescription drugs more affordable, and restore voting rights to those who have completed sentences.
Stand for Life: Finally, please register now to attend Virginia Pro-Life Day on Feb. 1 in Richmond. Join us for a full day of advocacy, witness and prayer for life!
Pregnant and need help? Click here to find pregnancy resources offered by our two dioceses.
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In prayer and in public, your voices are urgently needed to bring Gospel values to bear on vital decisions being made by those who represent you.
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The Virginia Catholic Conference is the public policy agency representing Virginia’s Catholic bishops and their two dioceses.
