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Virginia General Assembly session round-up

Christine Stoddard | Catholic Herald

Advocates from across the state convene in Richmond for Virginia Catholic Advocacy Day Jan. 29

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This year’s Virginia General Assembly session, which ended
Feb. 27, was “about maintaining the status quo,” said Jeff
Caruso, executive director of the Virginia Catholic
Conference.

Given the political climate, Caruso has said repeatedly at
Virginia Catholic Advocacy Day and other speaking engagements
that completely outlawing abortion may not be possible at
this time; therefore, the VCC aims for “compromise.” This
session, compromise meant defunding Medicaid abortions, a
goal that was not achieved. The advocacy group’s initial hope
this session – as it is with all sessions – was outlawing all
forms of abortion in all situations.

In a statement released during the session, Caruso wrote the
following about restricting Virginia’s abortion funding:

“Based on the longstanding federal Hyde Amendment, the
federal government subsidizes abortions for women enrolled in
Medicaid only when the life of the mother is in danger and in
cases of rape and incest. Virginia is among a minority of
states that also provides state-only funding for women
enrolled in Medicaid to obtain abortions in cases of a fetus’
‘gross and incapacitating’ physical deformity or mental
deficiency.

“The VCC supports House-approved amendments to the state
budget that would strip state Medicaid funding for abortions
done because the fetus might be born disabled. (Though this
provision was not included in the final budget package
approved by the House and Senate, the conference will
continue to pursue its inclusion in future years.)”

Throughout the session, the VCC advocated for preserving
life, religious liberty and social justice. This included,
among other initiatives, creating a stand-alone anti-human
trafficking law, allowing National Guard chaplains the
freedom to dictate the content of their sermons, maintaining
DACA (Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals) students’ access to
in-state college tuition and keeping the concealed-carry law
at K-12 schools – all of which was accomplished.

One of the session’s more uplifting moments came last week,
when a bill was passed to compensate victims of Virginia’s
forced sterilization movement up to $25,000 each. Victims
must come forward to claim their funds, which will be
available beginning July 1.

The Virginia Eugenical Sterilization Act, which was signed
into law in 1924, was responsible for sterilizing more than
7,000 Virginians from 1924 to 1979. These were people deemed
mentally or physically unfit to procreate.

Caruso described Virginia’s history of forced sterilization
as a “grave injustice” for which there is no compensation,
but that this act may “promote some healing and forgiveness.”
The VCC was among the advocacy groups that spent the past
three years pushing for the victim fund.

Another victory for the VCC and same-minded advocacy groups
was defeating a bill that would keep the ingredients of
lethal injections a secret.

“I really hope that the defeat of the lethal injection bill
will provide an opportunity to talk more broadly about the
death penalty,” said Caruso.

Throughout the last week of the session, Caruso said he and
his team tracked the bill budget, helped leaders prepare for
floor debates and visited politicians and their assistants.

The Virginia General Assembly meets for 60 days in
even-numbered years and 30 days in odd-numbered years.

Next year, Caruso said that he wants the VCC to continue
focusing on the poorest and most vulnerable.

Find out more

To learn more about the Virginia Catholic Conference, go to
<href=”http//:vacatholic.org”>vacatholic.org.

Stoddard can be reached at [email protected].

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