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| GOV BOB McDONNELL, STOP THE MADNESS NOW! |
By Brian Devine (Contact) Link to petition
To be delivered to: Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, The Virginia State Senate, and Governor Bob McDonnell
"I'm writing to express my opposition to bills before the General Assembly that insert the government into women's private medical decisions. Please oppose HB 1, which would define a fertilized egg as a person and could outlaw abortion under all circumstances and restrict women's access to birth control, and HB 462, which will traumatize women by forcing some to submit to an invasive, transvaginal ultrasound before seeking an abortion.
I've had enough of this war on women and I'm asking you to get back to work on Virginians' priorities: investing in our economic growth, ensuring our kids get an excellent education, and repairing our crumbling transportation infrastructure. We sent you to Richmond to make life better for Virginia families, not make it more difficult for women to access comprehensive reproductive health services."
Virginia may be the butt of jokes for late night comedians, but the bills coming out of the General Assembly this year are no laughing matter. Yesterday, conservatives in the House of Delegates passed HB 1, "personhood" legislation that would grant legal rights to fertilized eggs. This bill seeks to ban safe, legal abortion in all circumstances and threatens women's access to birth control.
Unfortunately, they didn't stop there. Anti-women legislators also passed legislation requiring many women seeking an abortion to undergo an invasive, transvaginal ultrasound. Just in case that wasn't extreme enough, those same legislators rejected a commonsense amendment requiring a woman's consent before she is penetrated with a vaginal ultrasound probe.
This war on women has got to stop. We sent our representatives to Richmond to focus on making our lives better: creating jobs, improving our schools, and fixing our roads. Instead, they've spent their time attacking Virginia families and interfering in women's private medical decisions. Stand up and tell your representatives to stop the conservative war on women and get back to work on our priorities.
HB 1 would make Virginia the first state in the nation to grant "personhood" status to fertilized cells. Make no mistake, this legislation is part of a concerted nationwide strategy to attack women's rights and access to reproductive health care. We have a choice. Virginia can be a casualty of the conservative war on women or we can set an example for the nation and fight back. Stand up and tell Virginia's legislature to stop the war on women in Virginia.
These attacks on women's health aren't just dangerous to continued access to safe, legal abortion. Conservatives across the country have trained their sights on cutting off women's access to comprehensive reproductive health services, from defunding breast exams to limiting access to birth control. We can't let them succeed here.
It's simply really: women's medical decisions about her body should be between her, her family and her doctor. Keep government out of it. Make your voice heard. Stand up and tell Virginia's lawmakers to stop the war on women.
NFTOS
Staff
