During the 2024 Virginia General Assembly session, your state senators and delegates cast key votes on critical issues impacting human life, dignity and the common good.
The Virginia Catholic Conference, the public policy agency representing Virginia’s Catholic bishops and their two dioceses, prepared a report with a recap of those votes.
Life & Liberty
- Respecting Other States’ Pro-Life Laws (1): The VCC opposed Senate and House bills that sought to shield abortion providers in Virginia from prosecution for breaking other states’ laws on abortion – enabling them, for example, to prescribe and mail chemical abortion drugs to women and girls in other states, even if doing so would violate their laws. These bills passed both chambers. Gov. Youngkin vetoed them.*
- Respecting Other States’ Pro-Life Laws (2): VCC-opposed bills to shield abortion providers in Virginia from disciplinary action by the Virginia Board of Medicine for breaking other states’ laws on abortion passed both chambers. Youngkin vetoed them.*
- Opposing Assisted Suicide: For the fifth time in six years, VCC-opposed legislation to legalize assisted suicide was introduced. It passed the Senate and passed a House committee. However, it did not proceed to a House floor vote, and another House committee ultimately decided to postpone its further consideration until 2025.
- Protecting Life & Parental Rights: A House committee rejected VCC-supported legislation to protect the rights of parents in critical care decisions involving their children. The bill would have required written parental consent for Do Not Resuscitate orders.
- Opposing Liquefying Deceased Persons: The VCC opposed a bill to permit alkaline hydrolysis – a process in which human remains are liquefied, treated as “wastewater” and disposed of through the sewer system. The measure passed the House but was defeated in the Senate.
- Opposing Contraceptive Mandate: VCC-opposed legislation to require health plans to cover all drugs the FDA defines as contraceptives – including those that can cause abortions – passed the Senate and House. Gov. Youngkin proposed an amendment to exempt health plan sponsors whose religious or ethical beliefs conflict with the bill’s requirements.**
Families & Children
- Preserving Conscience & Parental Rights: The VCC opposed legislation seeking to grant minors a “right” to undergo sterilization procedures and obtain contraceptives. The proposal would also have undermined the religious liberty and conscience rights of hospitals and health clinics that do not provide sterilization procedures or contraceptives due to their beliefs. The measure passed the Senate and House. Gov. Youngkin proposed an amendment to narrow its scope and reflect existing law.**
- Opposing Commercial Surrogacy Brokers: VCC-opposed surrogacy expansion legislation – attempting to allow commercial surrogacy brokers to operate in Virginia – passed the House and Senate. Gov. Youngkin vetoed the legislation.*
- Protecting Marriage: The VCC opposed legislation creating a statutory definition of marriage that directly conflicts with the one-man-one-woman definition of marriage in the Virginia constitution. The measure, however, passed both chambers. Gov. Youngkin signed the legislation. The VCC will continue to advocate for the preservation of the one-man-one-woman marriage provision in Virginia’s constitution.
- Opposing Marijuana Commercialization: Although Virginia enacted legislation in 2021 to legalize marijuana possession and home cultivation, legislation to allow the sale of marijuana – including high-potency THC – in “pot shops” was not included in that legislation. This year, the Senate and House passed an expansive commercialization measure. Gov. Youngkin, however, vetoed the legislation, and hence sales remain illegal.* The VCC opposes commercialization because of the severe risks of mass-marketed THC to children, health and public safety.
Social & Economic Concerns
- Limiting Isolated Confinement: The Senate and House passed a VCC-supported measure to place a clear limit on the amount of time an incarcerated person can be held in isolated confinement. Youngkin vetoed the legislation.*
- Reducing Drug Costs: A VCC-supported proposal to establish a regulatory framework to make especially expensive prescription drugs more affordable passed the Senate and House. Gov. Youngkin vetoed it.*
*Veto sustained during Reconvened Session on April 17.
**Amendment rejected during Reconvened Session on April 17.
Read the full report, including vote charts, and sign up for VCC email alerts and updates.