A Virginia lawmaker wants to amend a law that would allow pregnant women to use HOV lanes.
Nick Freitas, a Republican, filed HB 1894. It says pregnant women should be considered two people when using a high-occupancy vehicle lane.
Under the bill, if a woman is ticketed by photo enforcement or pulled over by a law enforcement agency, she would be allowed to prove she is pregnant to avoid a fine.
The bill also requests that the state establish a process that allows pregnant women to certify that she is pregnant.
"Such woman shall not be issued any citation or required to refute a citation issued via a photo-enforcement system, provided that she has properly registered with the Department pursuant to this subsection," the bill states.
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The bill also addresses privacy, noting that information collected can only be used for enforcing the high-occupancy requirements. It states that information cannot be made public or sold. The bill would also require the information to be purged after a year or when a woman notifies the state that she is no longer pregnant.
The bill was filed at a time when the country grapples with when a fetus is considered a person. Numerous Republican-led states have banned or restricted abortion rights following the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade last year, claiming life starts at conception.
Following the decision, a woman in Texas tried to fight an HOV citation, claiming she was pregnant when she was using the lane. However, she was still fined $215 for driving alone in a two-or-more-occupant lane.
The woman cited inconsistencies in the state law since it prohibits abortions after about six weeks when a fetal heartbeat can be detected. A judge ended up dismissing the ticket.
