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Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed two major reproductive health measures Wednesday in Lorton, securing the right to obtain and use birth control while seeking to reduce contraception costs across Virginia.
Spanberger signed the Right to Contraception and Contraception Equity Act during an indoor ceremony at Occoquan Regional Park. The event took place near the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial, which commemorates suffragists imprisoned during the 1917 Silent Sentinels demonstrations.
The governor was joined by Democratic officials including U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Jeff McKay, Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed and Occoquan Mayor Earnie Porta. Fairfax County Dels. Kathy Tran and Irene Shin also attended.
State Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy and Dels. Josh Thomas and Marcia Price were among the legislation’s advocates.
Carroll Foy described Virginia as a Southern refuge for reproductive rights, pointing to the state’s abortion protections and adoption of paid family and medical leave.
Ela Stanton, a 2026 Virginia Commonwealth University graduate and panelist with Americans for Contraception, said birth control helped her recover from pain caused by ovarian cysts while she was a gymnast.
“Contraception is health care,” Stanton said, noting that it can help treat ovarian cysts, endometriosis and severe menstrual pain. She said enshrining access in state law gives Virginians confidence that contraception decisions will remain between patients and their doctors.
Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi criticized former Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s repeated vetoes of similar legislation and rejected arguments that state-level protections are unnecessary.
Hashmi said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization created broader concerns about access to reproductive care. She also pointed to North Carolina House Bill 1232, introduced in May, which she said seeks to classify abortion as first-degree murder and could enable violence against pregnant women.
Hashmi further warned that there is no firm assurance the Trump administration’s Food and Drug Administration will not seek to classify contraception as a form of abortion.
Spanberger framed access to birth control as both a health issue and a matter of economic opportunity.
“It’s also an issue of economic mobility,” she said, citing research showing that women with access to contraception remain in school longer, enter the workforce sooner and earn higher wages. Above all, she said, they gain greater control over their lives and their families’ futures.
The governor also urged support for Virginia’s proposed constitutional amendment on reproductive rights, which is scheduled to go before voters in November.
After the signing, Spanberger turned to Virginia’s unresolved budget negotiations, with 13 days remaining before the end of the fiscal year. She said she was taking precautions but would not accept the possibility of a state government shutdown.
The General Assembly remains deadlocked over the data center sales tax exemption. Spanberger said she favors a consumption tax designed to encourage environmentally beneficial changes.
She told reporters outside the memorial that she had strongly opposed even the threat of federal shutdowns while serving in Congress and felt still more strongly about preventing one in Virginia.