The Republican governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, appears to have thwarted an attempt to stop law enforcement obtaining menstrual histories of women in the state.
A bill passed in the Democratic-led state senate, and supported by half the chamber’s Republicans, would have banned search warrants for menstrual data stored in tracking apps on mobile phones or other electronic devices.
Advocates feared private health information could be used in prosecutions for abortion law violations, after a US supreme court ruling last summer overturned federal protections for the procedure.
But Youngkin, who has pushed for a 15-week abortion ban to mirror similar measures in several Republican-controlled states, essentially killed the bill through a procedural move in a subcommittee of the Republican-controlled House.
Citing unspecified future threats to the ability of law enforcement to investigate crime, Maggie Cleary, Youngkin’s deputy secretary of public safety, told the courts of justice subcommittee it was not the legislature’s responsibility to restrict the scope of search warrants.
“While the administration understands the importance of individuals’ privacy … this bill would be the very first of its kind that I’m aware of, in Virginia or anywhere, that would set a limit on what search warrants can do,” she said, according to the Washington Post.
“Currently any health information or any app information is available via search warrant. And we believe that should continue to be the case.”
The panel voted on party line to table the bill, meaning it is unlikely to resurface during the current legislative session.
Abortion rights advocates contend that with Youngkin’s efforts to push a 15-week abortion ban, with limited exceptions, failing to advance in either legislative chamber, the governor is looking for other avenues.
“The Youngkin administration’s opposition to this commonsense privacy protection measure shows his real intentions, to ban abortion and criminalise patients and medical providers,” said Tarina Keene, executive director of Repro Rising Virginia, in a statement provided to the Guardian.
Youngkin has insisted that any abortion restrictions would target doctors, not women who have the procedure.
The administration has also attempted to portray a united front among Republicans for abortion restrictions, arguing it is a consensus issue. But the defection of the nine senate Republicans over the menstrual data bill follows one of their number, Siobhan Dunnavant, speaking out last month against Youngkin’s 15-week proposal.
Dunnavant, an ob-gyn doctor, condemned the bill as “extreme”, according to the Virginia Mercury, and said she could not support it unless it contained an exception for severe fetal abnormalities to 24 weeks. Under current Virginia law, the procedure is legal for all women until the 27th week of pregnancy.
The wrangle over menstrual data tracking has parallels with a controversy in Florida, in which high school athletics officials last week backed away from a “humiliating” proposal requiring girls who wanted to play sports to answer questions about menstruation on medical forms.
Critics said the requirement aligned with a push by the Republican governor, Ron DeSantis, to curtail transgender rights, an allegation denied by high school officials.
• This article’s headline was amended on 16 February 2023. An earlier version did not correctly describe the purpose of the menstrual data bill or Glenn Youngkin’s position on it.
