By TARINA KEENE AND KENDA SUTTON-EL
In the more than two years since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and nearly 50 years of legal abortion care, the fallout has been swift and destructive.
Fourteen states have outright banned and five states have severely restricted abortion, leaving millions of people without the health care they need. Fortunately, abortion is still legal and accessible here in Virginia, and thousands of pregnant people from across the country have sought care here due to widespread state bans. Nonetheless, Virginia remains in a precarious state.
While there is no abortion ban currently on the books, despite Gov. Glenn Youngkin's full-throated campaign for a ban, we have no legal protections or rights for abortion access. Neither the state constitution nor the Virginia code includes protections that can prevent politically motivated attacks and restrictions on our reproductive health care and our fundamental freedoms.
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To protect the human rights of Virginians, and to remain a central access point for abortion in the South, we need to pass a state constitutional amendment.
While Roe v. Wade offered some protection for reproductive freedom, it was a flawed decision that left many people behind, especially those already marginalized. Even after Roe, politicians across the country passed laws that created medically unnecessary hurdles, placing abortion care further out of reach.
Imagine needing urgent care but being told you must first endure a mandatory waiting period -- an unnecessary delay that can turn a manageable situation into a crisis.
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For many, this means taking additional time off from work, arranging child care or traveling long distances, which can be impossible. Forced ultrasounds, which serve no medical purpose, become an added emotional and financial burden. Strict facility restrictions that single out abortion providers to shut them down can leave entire communities without access to care. These restrictions don't protect health or safety -- they create insurmountable barriers, especially for those already struggling.
Thankfully, we were able to repeal these medically unnecessary obstacles to reproductive health care in Virginia. However, we are still vulnerable to future attacks. A constitutional amendment for reproductive freedom is a crucial step in dismantling harmful barriers and ensuring that everyone, no matter their circumstances, has the right to make their own reproductive decisions without political interference.
Abortion is health care and access should not depend on where we live or the whims of politicians. That is why re-creating Roe in Virginia is not enough. Young people, people who do not have a lot of money and people of color must work twice as hard to make it past the political barriers that push abortion out of reach, even while abortion is still legal.
Without constitutional protections, Virginians do not have a definitive right and that means abortion access can be taken away in just one election cycle. We need real protection and real access to care.
Communities of color, in particular, face additional challenges due to long-standing disparities in health care access. Systemic inequities have always disproportionately impacted Black, indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) communities. These communities encounter significant hurdles in obtaining reproductive health care, not just because of discriminatory practices in medicine, but also due to broader economic and social injustices that limit access to comprehensive care.
Rural communities and those with lower incomes also face barriers, like long-distance travel and stigma, that make accessing abortion care, contraception and even routine gynecological services extraordinarily difficult.
A constitutional amendment in Virginia is crucial. It cannot just enshrine the right to abortion; it must also create an equitable framework that ensures everyone, regardless of race, income or ZIP code, can access the full spectrum of reproductive health care. This amendment represents a chance to build a more inclusive and just system, where the right to make decisions about one's own body is not determined by social or economic status but is guaranteed to all.
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Tarina Keene is executive director of REPRO Rising Virginia. Contact Keene at [email protected]. Kenda Sutton-EL is founding executive director of Birth in Color. Contact Sutton-EL at [email protected].