Gov. Glenn Youngkin vetoed bills Friday that would have protected access to birth control and removed real estate-related tax exemptions for organizations with Confederate ties, legislators confirmed.

Del. Cia Price, who carried the birth control bill, said she received a call from Youngkin’s office informing her it was rejected.

“This is such a popular issue,” said Price, D-Newport News. “It was the one thing that I was holding out hope for, but the governor has his allegiances to the most extreme part of his party.”

The measure stated that health care providers have the right to prescribe contraceptives, and individuals have the right to obtain and use them. It did not pertain to abortion and defined contraceptives as any drug or device legally marketed and intended for use in the “prevention of pregnancy.” It created a right to file a lawsuit over violations and did not have a fiscal impact on the state.

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Richmond, carried the bill in the Senate.

Health care providers in Virginia currently can prescribe birth control, and some methods, such as condoms, are available over the counter. But some birth control advocates became concerned after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas wrote that the court should reconsider other landmark cases, including Griswold vs. Connecticut, the ruling that protected the right of married couples to use contraception.

Meanwhile, Sen. Angelia Williams Graves, D-Norfolk, said the Confederacy-related bill she carried with Del. Alex Askew was also vetoed.

“(The governor) wants to keep giving our tax breaks to hate organizations like the Daughters of the Confederacy,” Graves wrote on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “(Askew) and I will be back. He will be gone! It’s just a matter of time.”

The bill would have removed tax exemptions for real estate and personal property owned by the Virginia Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the General Organization of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Confederate Memorial Literary Society and Stonewall Jackson Memorial, Inc.

Simone Nied, a junior at Kempsville High School in Virginia Beach, prompted the push to remove the tax breaks.

Nied previously explained that her father, an attorney, mentioned the tax exemption the UDC receives over dinner one night two years ago after running across it in the state code. It piqued her interest because she didn’t understand why the state would support an organization that glorifies the Confederacy. The teenager then reached out to legislators to share her concerns.

Statements from the governor regarding his vetoes were not available as of press time.

Katie King, katie.king@virginiamedia.com