RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Virginia’s Democratic-led Senate passed constitutional amendments on abortion and voting rights on Tuesday, but the amendments quickly came under fire from Republicans who may will exploit these issues as the party attempts to regain ground in November’s statewide election.
The Senate passed the resolutions in two party-line votes. Senators also passed a resolution in a bipartisan vote of 24-15 to repeal the now-defunct same-sex marriage ban, which was supported by Sen. Adam Ebbin, the first elected legislator An openly gay MP who is a member of the establishment. The Democratic-led Virginia House of Representatives passed similar legislation on all three issues earlier this month.
“We will enshrine these rights in our Constitution, ensure our freedoms are no longer threatened, and return power to the people,” said Democratic Sen. Jennifer Boysco, the sponsor of the abortion resolution.
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Tuesday’s debate provided insight into what lawmakers can campaign for this November, when all 100 House seats are on the ballot. Proposed constitutional amendments must be passed by lawmakers twice within at least two years, with elections held between sessions. The amendment can then be put to a referendum.
Republican lawmakers criticized Democrats for refusing to add language to the abortion amendment that would explicitly require minors to obtain parental consent.
“In terms of the amendment, our priority is the ability of parents to participate in their children’s decision-making,” Senate Minority Leader Ryan McDougal, a Republican from central Virginia, said at a news conference on Tuesday. These are the goals we fought for this session and will continue to fight for.”
During a heated debate, Democratic Sen. Barbara Favola faulted that argument.
“Not every family is loving and supportive and not every family has the best interests of the child at heart,” Favola said. He later added: “There are cases where a child is raped by her father, her stepfather. In some cases, a family will evict…their daughter because she is pregnant.
But Republican Sen. Tara Durant characterized the abortion amendment, which does not distinguish between adults and children, as an infringement of parental rights.
“We’re going to stop respecting the authority of our parents and tearing apart who we are as mothers, as fathers,” Durant said. “If a stranger is going to make a decision that could threaten your child’s life — if at all, we This moment should never be forgotten.”
Republicans also criticized Democratic Sen. Mamie Locke’s resolution to safeguard voting rights, which changes the state’s current process for restoring voting rights to people convicted of felonies. Earlier this week, McDougal proposed that those convicted of violent felonies would be stripped of their right to vote unless the governor pays full victim restitution. Restore their voting rights.
In response, Locke comments that everyone is “more than the worst thing they’ve ever done.”
“This has nothing to do with reparations. This has nothing to do with whether someone committed a violent or nonviolent felony,” Locke said Tuesday after the vote. “It has to do with the fact that individuals, once they complete their sentence, have a fundamental right: to vote once they get out.
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Olivia Diaz is a corps member for the Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
