While the rest of the country fights over who our next president is, Virginia politicians are gearing up for the 2017 race with all three seats (Governor, Lt. Gov, and Attorney General) up for grabs.
While the rest of the country fights over who our next president is, Virginia politicians are gearing up for the 2017 race with all three seats (Governor, Lt. Gov, and Attorney General) up for grabs.
While much is still in the rumor phase, one Republican Senator, Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel (top image, middle) from Fauquier County, has announced her intention to run for the Lt. Governor position.
Vogel made headlines in 2012 when she authored a bill which required women to get an ultrasound prior to receiving an abortion.
According to the Virginia Pilot, Vogel said the bill aimed to determine the gestational age of the fetus, and was not intended to be a deter women from receiving an abortion.
“It absolutely does not infringe on her right to have an abortion,” she said according to the Pilot. “All it says is that you’ll have an ultrasound. It doesn’t compel you to see the results.”
Virginia’s former and since-disgraced Governor Bob McDonnell signed the bill into law in March, 2012, making Virginia one of 7 states that require ultrasounds before abortion procedures.
Earlier versions of Vogel’s bill included a trans-vaginal ultrasound which Virginia Democrats compared to rape, but that language was removed before it landed on the governor’s desk.
“We have taken out the state-required rape from the bill, but the way it is now is still an assault because it’s an unwanted touching,” Howell (D) told HuffPost in an interview, “and the woman is being coerced to have that happen in order to exercise her constitutional right to an abortion.”
According to her website, Howell is a renown attorney who’s received praises from local and national organizations.
She has been progressive on some issues; during the current General Assembly Session, Vogel broke party lines and voted in support of protections for LGBTQ Virginians in housing and state employment.
