HARRISONBURG, Va. (ROCKTOWN NOW) – State Senator Ghazala Hashmi visited the Friendly City on a tour promoting efforts to codify the right to contraception in Virginia.

The Harrisonburg-Rockingham Democratic Headquarters was the final stop on ‘Right to Contraception’ tour Friday morning, following stops in Richmond and Charlottesville earlier this week. The senator organized the tour to call for Governor Glenn Youngkin to sign a bill which would protect the right to obtain and use condoms, emergency contraceptives, inter-uterine devices (IUDs) and birth control pills.

“It’s really unfortunate that we even have to be on this tour at all, especially when broad majorities all across the country believe in the fundamental right to contraception and that it should be protected,” Hashmi said. “It’s a right to privacy, it’s a right to critical medical care.”

That right was called into question after the U.S. Supreme Court’s overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, ending nearly 50 years of Americans’ right to an abortion. Justice Clarence Thomas commented soon after that the Court should reconsider Griswold v. Connecticut – the decision that ensured access to contraception for married couples, in 1965.

“It is a strong signal – a clear signal – that they are coming for contraception next,” Hashmi said.

The court’s decision in Eisenstadt v. Baird expanded the right to unmarried people several years later.

Hashmi is the patron of SB 237, while Delegate Marcia Price (D-Newport News), patroned the companion bill, HB 609.

The bills sailed through both houses in the Democratic- controlled General Assembly, passing and is sitting on the governor’s desk. If Youngkin approves the legislation, it will ensure the right to contraception stands in Virginia in the event the U.S. Supreme Court overturns the Griswold and Baird rulings.

The governor has until Monday to act on all legislation passed in this year’s General Assembly. He can sign the bill, veto it or amend it, although Hashmi told Rocktown Now that Youngkin’s staff indicated to her that he intends to oppose the measure.

“My question back to him would be, what possible reason does he have to oppose a right to contraception, which is a right that we have enjoyed for close to 60 years in this country?” Hashmi said.

Hashmi has collected more than 37,000 signatures from Virginians in a petition for Youngkin to sign the legislation.

About a dozen people attended the event, including Eastern Mennonite University nursing students. Harrisonburg Mayor Deanna Reed was also there to declare her support for the bills.

“As mayor, I know what is at stake for my community here,” Reed said. “Contraception bans will disproportionately hurt people who are already marginalized, including people of color, immigrants, LGBTQ people, and people with low incomes.”

Red Wine & Blue, a nonprofit advocating for women’s rights, joined Hashmi for the ‘Right to Contraception’ tour.