---
type: "Bill"
title: "Essential health benefits; abortion coverage."
description: "Essential health benefits; abortion coverage.Removes the prohibition on the provision of coverage for abortionsin any qualified health insurance plan that is sold or offered forsale through a health benefits exchange established or operatingin Virginia."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2021"
identifier: "HB 1896"
citation: "Virginia HB 1896 (2021)"
classification: ["bill"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Sally L. Hudson"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 22
vote_count: 6
first_action: "2021-01-08"
last_action: "2021-03-12"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/84c69b36-2d84-483e-bf8b-0d15e4bc100b"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+sum+HB1896"
source_hash: "fb9625614259a01d44bc0ca7af72fe5549ef06b7e36c3f2037e78bece32aa4a1"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 1896 (2021) — Essential health benefits; abortion coverage.

Essential health benefits; abortion coverage.Removes the prohibition on the provision of coverage for abortionsin any qualified health insurance plan that is sold or offered forsale through a health benefits exchange established or operatingin Virginia.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **CHAP0101** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+CHAP0101)
2. **HB1896ER** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1896ER)
3. **Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101445D** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.virginia.gov/cgi-bin/legp604.exe?212+ful+HB1896)

## Votes

- Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N) — **15–0** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 2-N) — **12–2** (pass) · upper
- Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N) — **39–0** (pass) · upper
- VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N) — **54–45** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Labor and Commerce (13-Y 9-N) — **13–9** (pass) · lower
- Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) — **22–17** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Sally L. Hudson — primary (person)
- Alfonso H. Lopez — cosponsor (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- Candi Mundon King — cosponsor (person)
- Charniele L. Herring — cosponsor (person)
- Chris L. Hurst — cosponsor (person)
- Dan I. Helmer — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth R. Guzman — cosponsor (person)
- Hala S. Ayala — cosponsor (person)
- Ibraheem S. Samirah — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer B. Boysko — cosponsor (person)
- Jennifer L. McClellan — cosponsor (person)
- Kenneth R. Plum — cosponsor (person)
- Lee J. Carter — cosponsor (person)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
- Marcus B. Simon — cosponsor (person)
- Mark H. Levine — cosponsor (person)
- Mark L. Keam — cosponsor (person)
- Patrick A. Hope — cosponsor (person)
- Rodney T. Willett — cosponsor (person)
- Sam Rasoul — cosponsor (person)
- Scott A. Surovell — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2021-01-08** Prefiled and ordered printed; offered 01/13/21 21101445D `introduction`
- **2021-01-08** Referred to Committee on Labor and Commerce `referral-committee`
- **2021-01-18** Impact statement from SCC (HB1896)
- **2021-01-21** Reported from Labor and Commerce (13-Y 9-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-01-22** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2021-01-25** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2021-01-26** Read third time and passed House (55-Y 45-N) `passage, reading-3`
- **2021-01-26** VOTE: Passage (55-Y 45-N)
- **2021-01-27** Constitutional reading dispensed
- **2021-01-27** Referred to Committee on Commerce and Labor `referral-committee`
- **2021-02-05** Continued to 2021 Sp. Sess. 1 in Commerce and Labor (15-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-15** Reported from Commerce and Labor (12-Y 2-N) `committee-passage`
- **2021-02-17** Constitutional reading dispensed (39-Y 0-N)
- **2021-02-18** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2021-02-18** Passed Senate (22-Y 17-N) `passage`
- **2021-02-22** Enrolled
- **2021-02-22** Signed by President
- **2021-02-23** Impact statement from SCC (HB1896ER)
- **2021-02-24** Signed by Speaker
- **2021-02-25** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 25, 2021
- **2021-02-25** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., March 31, 2021
- **2021-03-12** Approved by Governor-Chapter 101 (effective 7/1/21) `executive-signature`

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/84c69b36-2d84-483e-bf8b-0d15e4bc100b`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).