{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5720", "Virginia Democratic Delegation Urges General Assembly to Enshrine Right to an Abortion in Virginia Constitution", "2022-11-21", "2022", "2022-11", "Democrat", "House", "VA", "Donald S. Beyer, Jr.", "B001292", "beyer.house.gov", "beyer", "https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentquery.aspx?DocumentTypeID=27", "scraper", "Today, U.S. Rep. A. Donald McEachin (VA-04), along with U.S. Reps. Jennifer Wexton (VA-10), Gerry Connolly (VA-11), Abigail Spanberger (VA-07), Elaine Luria (VA-02), Don Beyer (VA-08), Robert C. \u201cBobby\u201d Scott (VA-03) and U.S. Sens. Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sent a letter to the Virginia General Assembly, urging for prompt action to be taken to protect abortion access for all Virginians.\n\nThis letter comes after the Supreme Court\u2019s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization, which undermined reproductive health care and stripped away the constitutional right to choose. Since that ruling, several states have moved to further restrict or ban abortion access.\n\n\u201cWe are also concerned that Governor Youngkin has indicated that he plans to take Virginia in a similar direction. Shortly after Dobbs was decided, he directed Republican members of the General Assembly to craft legislation to significantly limit abortion access in Virginia,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cAttacks on reproductive freedom disproportionately impact vulnerable populations, including low-income women, women of color, young Americans, and individuals living in rural communities.\u201d\n\nDuring the midterm elections, voters in states across the nation rejected extreme abortion bans. Furthermore, Virginians largely support the right to choose with sixty-seven percent saying that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.\n\n\u201cGiven the unprecedented assault on reproductive rights, it is imperative that the right to abortion be enshrined in the Virginia Constitution and codified in Congress,\u201d continued the lawmakers. \u201cWe urge you to advance legislation that would allow these rights to be codified into the Virginia Constitution, and we will continue to work to codify reproductive freedom at the federal level.\u201d", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-08T03:24:37Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://beyer.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=5720"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.2524849735200405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}