The Virginia General Assembly is currently considering SB743, a bill to prohibit the extradition of Virginia citizens who aid others in obtaining reproductive healthcare, including abortions, in this state where such things are legal, to other states where such care is not legal.
I vehemently support this and not just because I believe abortion is valid medical care; on greater principle, I have an issue with governments where I am not represented (i.e., governments whose elections I cannot vote in) getting to enforce their will upon my life through fear.
Even if there are no laws prohibiting reasonable access to abortion in Virginia, if the state does not confirm it will deny extradition, regular Virginia citizens will always have to live in fear that an external state will find some way to lay claim on their behavior for the purposes of advancing a crusade against human rights beyond its own borders.
I did not sign up to live in an irritating and anxiety-inducing Venn Diagram where I get to be physically present within the borders of Virginia, but the borders of Texas get to overlap and pierce into my life if and when it deems, through laws that I have no representation in, that it has an interest in behavior that is law-abiding within my own state.
I use the example of Texas because NPR recently published “The Texas Attorney General is suing a New York doctor for prescribing abortion pills” by Elissa Nadworny, and I can only wonder how long it is before one of my friends or neighbors is subpoenaed for giving an out-of-town stranger, who later turns out to be from Texas, directions to an abortion clinic.
Olivia Hathaway is a resident of Augusta County.
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