Session Update at the Halfway Mark!
Yesterday was the mid-way point at the General Assembly, also referred to as “crossover,” which is when the bills passed by the House and Senate move to the other chamber for consideration. While the number of bills introduced at the beginning of session has been reduced significantly, there still remains several good bills that pertain to parental rights – including “Sage’s Law”, the sanctity of life, and advancing education opportunities for more students, as well as some bad bills that seek to redefine marriage, enshrine abortion into the state constitution, and commercialize marijuana.
This session’s most shocking statement may go to Senator Jennifer Boysko (D-Fairfax) who said “I believe life begins at birth” during a Senate debate on SJ 255 late Tuesday afternoon, a bill she is co-patroning with Senator Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond) that would amend the state constitution to allow abortion on demand with no limitations up to the moment of birth, and with taxpayer money. A similar bill (HJ 519, D-Herring) failed in a House subcommittee last month on a party-line vote.
The Senate Education and Health committee, chaired by Senator Louise Lucas (D-Portsmouth), predictably defeated SB 1385 (R-Newman) – the “Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act” – that would prohibit abortions when the baby can feel pain (15 weeks) and SB 1284 (R-Hackworth) – the “Virginia Unborn Child Protection Act” – which rightfully recognizes that life begins at conception and would prevent abortions at all stages except to save the life of the mother or if pregnancy is the result of rape.
Recognizing that the House versions of these bills would never make it past the Senate Education and Health committee, the House advanced common sense bills that everyone should agree on, like reinstating informed consent (HB 2270, R-Greenhalgh) and requiring medical treatment for an infant that survives a failed abortion called the “Infant Born Alive Protection Act” (HB 1795, R-Freitas). Last year, pro-abortion Democrats rereferred the Infant Born Alive Protection Act to a different committee to ensure it failed (click HERE to read more).
There are also several key bills that makes it clear parents do have a say in what their kids experience at school — especially when it comes to explicit content on the library shelves and outside speakers invited into the classroom to instruct their children; as well as their right to guide the overall direction of their child’s education. Unfortunately, efforts to create more education opportunities for families through the creation of Education Success Accounts (HB 1508, R-Davis) failed to pass a House committee, but we will be closely following legislation passed by the House that would make some helpful changes to the Education Improvement Scholarship Tax Credit program.
The House also passed the "Fairness in Female Sports Act" (HB 1387, R-Greenhalgh), which requires all public K-12 and college sports teams to only allow females to play on female teams to protect the integrity of female sports.
However, all eyes – state and national – this session have been on Sage's Law (HB 2432, R-LaRock), which will require schools to inform parents if their child is identifying as another gender at school and clarify that parents will not be deemed “abusive” simply for affirming their child’s biological sex. The story behind Sage’s Law is a heartbreaking account of a young girl who was encouraged by a school to self-identify as the opposite sex that led to her being sex-trafficked and kept from her parents for over a year. You can read more about her story HERE.
There is still a lot of work to do during this second half of session. Here’s where things stand on some of the other bills we’ve been telling you about:
Good bills still alive!
Ensure Churches Remain Open During State of Emergency – HB 2171 (R-Williams)
Passed House 52-47
Public Employee Free Speech – HB 1810 (R-Davis)
Passed House 53-47
Parental Notification of School Speakers – HB 1803 (R-Freitas)
Passed House 52-46
Fundamental Rights of Parents in Education – HB 1507 (R-McGuire)Passed House 53-46
Parental Consent of School Counseling Services – HB 2264 (R-Ransone)
Passed House 83-16
Religious Exemption for Vaccines – HB 2306 (R-Freitas)
Passed House 52-48Parental Access to Minor’s Medical Records - HB 1711 (R-Bell)
Passed House 52-48Clergy Visitation – HB 1689 (R-Freitas)
Passed House 52-46
Catalog School Library Materials with Sexual Content – HB 1379 (R-Anderson)
Passed House 51-45Model Policies for School Library Book Selection – HB 1448 (R-Orrock)
Passed House 51-47
Still fighting these dangerous bills
Commercializing Recreational Marijuana Products – SB 1133 (D-Ebbin)
Passed Senate 24-16
Same Sex Marriage – SB 1096 (D-Ebbin)Passed Senate 25-12
Unnatural Marriage (Const. Amend.) – SJ 242 (D-Ebbin)
Passed Senate 25-14
Unrestricted Abortion (Const. Amend.) – SJ 255 (D-McCllelan/Boysko)
Passed Senate 21-18
