RICHMOND, VA – In response to Governor Youngkin’s blocking of a bill to prevent law enforcement from collecting Virginians’ menstrual data, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the following:

“Governor Youngkin’s decision attacks the principles of freedom and a woman’s fundamental right to privacy in the United States of America.

This common-sense bill, killed by Governor Youngkin and his Administration, would have prevented police from collecting women’s menstrual data in the pursuit of criminal investigations. And just yesterday, Republican legislators in Virginia killed the Contraceptive Equality Act, which would have made it easier and more affordable for women to access contraception.

An overwhelming majority of the American people support these most basic measures and do not want their sensitive health data used by law enforcement. The President stands with this majority and continues to believe politicians should let women make their own health care decisions.”

Earlier this year, Governor Youngkin introduced a budget in which his administration sought money earmarked for the prosecution and incarceration of women who seek abortions, and for the doctors who provide them.

The bill which Youngkin and the VA GOP killed was designed to prevent law enforcement from having the power to access menstrual cycle tracking app data, which experts and pro-choice advocates worry would be used in the prosecution of women who seek abortions.

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