The Commonwealth of Virginia’s state legislature continued its streak of passing radical legislation this afternoon by passing HB980. The legislation echoes the extreme views on abortion shared by Governor Ralph Northam.

“The bill expands who can perform first trimester abortions to include, in addition to physicians, physician's assistants licensed by the Board of Medicine, and nurse practitioners or certified nurse midwives jointly licensed by the Board of Medicine and the Board of Nursing. The bill eliminates all the procedures and processes, including the performance of an ultrasound, required to effect a pregnant person's informed written consent to the performance of an abortion; however, the bill does not change the requirement that a pregnant person's informed written consent first be obtained. The bill removes language classifying facilities that perform five or more first trimester abortions per month as hospitals for the purpose of complying with regulations establishing minimum standards for hospitals,” the Assembly website’s summary of the bill reads.

HB980 is alarmingly radical, and a true step toward zero restrictions on abortion. Most notably, allowing non-physicians to perform abortions and the elimination of the requirement for an ultrasound were written in.

The passage of HB980 was praised by NARAL:

Thank you to the Virginia Senators who voted “YES” on the Reproductive Health Protection Act today! Virginians across our Commonwealth thank you for putting healthcare decisions back in the hands of patients and medical professionals in VA. #HB980 #ReproFreedom4VA pic.twitter.com/pqdk1YA162 — NARAL Pro-Choice VA (@NARALVirginia) February 24, 2020

Thanks to the work of @NARALVirginia, the Commonwealth is now one step closer to securing a future where all Virginians have access to reproductive freedom! #HB980 #ReproFreedom4VA https://t.co/o1C1xUckII — NARAL (@NARAL) February 24, 2020

HB980 is a step toward unlimited, unrestricted abortion regardless of trimester.