Gridlock or Chaos or Protections?
Richmond 2020
In 2020, the General Assembly in Richmond flipped from being majority Republican in both houses to being majority Democrat. Democrats also held the offices of Governor (Ralph Northam), Lt. Governor and Attorney General. This new small majority rushed to enact sweeping changes that Gov. Northam was eager to sign. In just two months, nearly 1300 bills passed, some drastically altering or even erasing decades of state policy.
What passed and was signed into law?
Abortion without Protections in Virginia: Abortion expansion legislation dismantled decades of pro-life protections: eliminating health and safety regulations for abortion facilities, allowing non-doctors to perform first-trimester abortions and removing nearly all requirements of informed consent before an abortion. Gov. Northam announced his signature in a press release issued on Good Friday! In Virginia today, abortion is allowed for any reason with no protections.
Many will remember that Governor Northam (a licensed pediatrician) made national news when he defended the practice of late term abortions and described how a baby who survives an abortion would be given comfort care if that is what the baby’s mother wanted.
Reversal of the Hyde Amendment prohibiting taxpayer funding of abortion.
Ratification of the ERA because its language has been used to challenge and overturn pro-life laws in other states. The time period for ratification of the ERA to amend the US Constitution expired decades ago. This was a symbolic vote to create a constitutional right to abortion.
Legislation adding “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” as protected categories in many areas of state law. Virginia Catholic Conference efforts to amend the legislation to ensure religious liberty protections for religious employers, churches, schools and other ministries to practice their beliefs – including the beliefs that God created each person male or female and established marriage as the union of a man and a woman – were thwarted at every turn.
Health benefit plans are required to cover gender transition treatments and surgery. VCC efforts to add an exemption for religious employers whose beliefs do not permit this coverage were defeated.
Background checks for firearm purchases.
Legislation ensuring that crime victims and witnesses are not asked their immigration status when they report crimes.
Legislation protecting borrowers from predatory lending practices.
What did not pass?
Bills to legalize assisted suicide, to repeal the law that protects the religious liberty of faith-based adoption and foster-care agencies, and to repeal the Education Improvements Scholarships Tax Credits program.
Legislation was also rejected that would require parental consent for a child to participate in a public school FLE program, rather than the current system that assumes participation unless the parent proactively rejects it with an “opt-out’.
These bill continue to be introduced each year and pass each year with a slimmer majority for Democrats (Senate 21-19) and (House of Delegates 51-49). The only protection for Virginians has been the veto power of Governor Youngkin since 2022.
Richmond 2025
Below is a summary from the Virginia Family Foundation for the final outcomes of legislation that is deemed to impact families in Virginia. Central to Democrat Abigail Spanberger’s campaign for Governor is her appeal to end the “gridlock” she claims characterized Governor Youngkin’s term. The chart below shows the radical nature of the party-line votes during the 2024-25 sessions. If not for the check by Governor Youngkin, the slimmest majority in both houses would have created laws not supported by the majority of Virginians. Abigail Spanberger wants to win with a majority in both houses so they can further the agenda they began under the two years when they had Governor Northam and a slim majority in the General Assembly and reversed decades of pro-life legislation and ushered transgender ideology into the public schools.
Abigail Spanberger self-describes as a moderate, but voted for all “73 bills and resolutions in the House of Representatives” that Biden voiced support for.[50] Spanberger often cites her experience at the CIA for her approach to politics. She has been a vocal critic of Democrats who reveal their ideologies in campaigns. According to her Wikipedia page: “On November 5, days after winning reelection by a margin of 1.8%,[31] Spanberger criticized the Democratic Party‘s strategy for the 2020 elections in a phone call with other Democratic caucus members that was subsequently leaked.[32] Calling the elections “a failure” from a congressional standpoint, she singled out Republican attack ads decrying “socialism” and the movement to “defund the police” as prime reasons the Democratic Party lost seats in swing districts. Spanberger argued that Democrats should watch Republican ads before deciding how to talk about issues and “not ever use the word ‘socialist’ or ‘socialism’ ever again”.[33] Hence, her campaign ads focus on words like “gridlock” without defining issues and targeting her opponent as a supporter of Donald Trump.
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