Virginia abortion laws facing new court challenge by women’s healthcare providers

Virginia’s state laws about abortion face a new court challenge by a group of women’s healthcare providers. Using the US Supreme Court’s 2016 landmark ruling in support of abortion rights, groups filed a suit this week arguing that the Commonwealth has failed to remove restrictive abortion laws. A staff attorney with the Center of Reproductive Rights Jenny Ma believes the landmark case should’ve sent a strong signal to Virginia lawmakers to act sooner. “They declared that an abortion restriction is unconstitutional when the burdens it imposes on abortion access outweigh the benefits they confer. And each of the laws that we’re challenging in this lawsuit fail to meet that standard.”

The Virginia suit challenges the way clinics are regulated such as, a physician-only law that bars other medical professionals from performing abortions, and a law requiring women to have an ultrasound, which the plaintiffs say causes delays in care.