Abortion is one of the top issues for many people in this year’s elections, from the federal level down to local races. Reproductive rights and access to care have even become a flashpoint in Richmond’s mayoral campaign. Advocates say a mayor’s support is vital to the city’s ability to provide access to care, while city governance experts question how much influence a mayor could actually wield.
Virginia is the only remaining Southern state with relatively few restrictions on abortion. An estimated 34,700 people received clinician-provided abortions in the commonwealth in 2023 — an 85% increase since 2020, according to data from the Guttmacher Institute.
As one of Virginia’s largest cities, Richmond has become a destination for people seeking reproductive care. In 2018 before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood performed 2,560 abortions in the city, according to Virginia Department of Health data. Now the nonprofit says it performs more than twice as many abortions — about 5,500 a year.
Paulette McElwain, president and CEO of the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood, said it is important that Richmond is a hospitable environment for abortion providers.
“We’ve become a really important access point for folks seeking care from the South,” McElwain said. “About 30% of our patients are coming from one of the banned states around us.”
She said she’s worked closely with Mayor Levar Stoney’s administration to ensure Richmond’s Planned Parenthood employees and patients are protected: “When Roe fell, he was able to mobilize some extra resources for us to make sure that our buildings were safe during that time of heightened unrest.”
McElwain added that she hopes to have the same type of relationship with the city’s next mayor.
The organization is also working with the city to expand access to reproductive health care.In July, Richmond City Council voted unanimously to approve Planned Parenthood’s bid to purchase a city-owned building off of Chamberlayne Avenue in Richmond’s Northside. The sale of the 10,000-square-foot building is still being finalized.
“We need the mayor’s office as a partner in that project,” McElwain said. “Everything from the building permit process, all of the way through the construction, having help moving things along with the city is really important.”
City Council President Kristen Nye, who voted to support the building’s sale to Planned Parenthood, said once the sale is complete, the property transfer is final.
“The property is in the pipeline for transferring. So, once the property’s transferred you’re into private property rights,” Nye told VPM News. “And so, undoing that action is probably not even on the table.”
Nye, who has served on the council for eight years, said the property deal has been the “most significant interaction” she’s had with Planned Parenthood during her time in office.
There are limits to what city leaders can do related to abortion. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state, which means that local governments only have powers expressly outlined by the Virginia General Assembly.
“It has over time just impacted us and how we look at the work in front of us,” Nye said. “The spirit has been to really hone in on the work we can get done and what we can achieve locally.”
Alex Keena, a Virginia Commonwealth University political science professor, said that because the right to an abortion is protected at the state level, there’s not much the mayor can do on a policy level to impact people’s access to abortion care, beyond “some arm twisting going on behind the scenes” about whether to allow more facilities that provide abortions.
But in a local race where candidates are not identified by party affiliation, Keena said abortion may be an effective way for candidates to set themselves apart.
Voters “can’t just rely on that shortcut of the party to make that decision,” Keena said. “It may be that focusing on issues like abortion — that’s a smart thing to do if you’re a candidate. It might help you distinguish yourself among other candidates in a very crowded field.”
In response to a VPM News questionnaire, each of Richmond’s five mayoral candidates expressed their commitment to protecting abortion access.
Dr. Danny Avula, former director of the Richmond City Health District, has said he supports the Virginia League for Planned Parenthood’s proposed Northside facility and hopes to address inequities in care for women and infants. “Maternal and infant health outcomes are not equitable in Richmond and across the Commonwealth, and we’ve seen some data that show that since Dobbs, these disparities are worsening across the country - Dobbs has moved us in the wrong direction,” he wrote.
Despite Avula’s background as a physician who served as Virginia’s COVID-19 vaccination coordinator under then-Gov. Ralph Northam, some abortion rights advocates and fellow mayoral candidates have been critical of his actions during his time with RCHD.
Tara Gibson, founder and executive director of Roe Your Vote Virginia, a PAC supporting pro-abortion candidates, said Avula “basically cut family planning services and then offloaded those patients to community providers, while not providing any extra resources to those providers who were then taking on more patients.”
Gibson cited a Richmond Times-Dispatch op-ed by former VLPP communications director Alexsis Rodgers that criticized Avula’s time at the helm of the health district.
But Dr. Wendy Klein — a Roe Your Vote board member, internist and associate professor emeritus of internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology at VCU — has endorsed Avula, saying he “is deeply committed to access to reproductive health care and all health care.”
“As the director of the Richmond City Health District, I think he showed great skill in dealing with the challenges of a complicated bureaucracy and trying to meet competing needs,” Klein added. “I’m hoping that’s what he brings to Richmond.”
Nonprofit investor Harrison Roday, also a Roe Your Vote board member, said he’d work with Planned Parenthood to ensure the city is a partner in opening the Northside location.
“I will fight to protect and expand access to reproductive health care in Richmond by making sure access to our current and future health centers that offer abortion services are accessible to all,” Roday wrote. “That includes protecting and expanding public transportation options so that patients can get to and from appointments.”
Current 1st District Councilor Andreas Addison voted in support of the Northside Planned Parenthood Health Center. He said he plans to expand options for health care, abortion and gender-affirming care in the city.
“Having an efficient City Hall with seamless permitting, providing safety-net and wraparound services to improve social determinants of health, and funding community-based organizations offering perinatal, maternal, and reproductive health services is critical,” Addison wrote. “Additionally, expanding the number of health care providers in areas with few medical resources also improves the overall life expectancy of residents.”
Community organizer Maurice Neblett affirmed the right of people to make decisions for their own body and promised to ensure the safety of those seeking and providing care. “The safety of those seeking abortions and the professionals providing that care is non-negotiable. Your body, your choice means that no one should fear for their safety while accessing or providing reproductive healthcare,” Neblett wrote.
In her response, former City Council President Michelle Mosby spoke about the connection between poverty and health care.
“I worked closely with the Mayor’s Anti-Poverty Commission, which found numerous healthcare deserts in our city,” Mosby wrote. “I firmly believe that we must create equal access to healthcare, including reproductive care, for all women across our city regardless of zip code or ability to pay.”
Read the candidates’ full responses to the VPM News abortion access questionnaire: Andreas Addison | Danny Avula | Michelle Mosby | Maurice Neblett | Harrison Roday
