Today we have two powerhouse women leading the work for Reproductive Rights in Virginia.

Tarina Keene took the helm of REPRO Rising Virginia in January 2008 as the organization’s executive director. She also serves as the organization’s lobbyist at the Virginia General Assembly. She is committed through RRVAs work to ensure that all Virginians have access to the full range of reproductive healthcare options despite their geographic location in the state or their socioeconomic status.

Tarina led the charge on the now infamous mandatory ultrasound bill passed by the Virginia General Assembly in February 2012. Despite the legislation passing, Tarina was responsible for introducing the legislature to the “transvaginal” ultrasound that gained international media scrutiny and galvanized thousands of Virginians to protest against the bill in Richmond during the legislative session. Tarina was quoted more than 100 times in the media including the New York Times, The Week Magazine, L.A. Times, Chicago Tribune, The Guardian (UK), and the Washington Post.

Tarina is also the founder and chair of the Virginia Coalition to Protect Women’s Health which came together in March 2011 after the General Assembly passed a law regulating abortion providers as hospitals. She successfully recruited more than a dozen state and national organizations and abortion providers to work together to mitigate the regulations. Tarina also appeared live twice on MSNBC’s The Rachel Maddow Show to discuss the impact on access to reproductive healthcare if a majority of the state’s reproductive healthcare providers are forced to cease offering services especially in rural and low-income areas.

Lucy Hartman – Organizing Director – Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia

Lucy (she/her) began her work in politics over ten years ago, starting out as a field organizer in multiple Virginia political campaigns. Lucy then worked as a political organizer for AFSCME and SEIU Local 1000 in Central Florida and Southern California, respectively. Lucy joined the PPAV team in 2019 as a Community Organizer in Richmond, returning to Virginia politics after working as a freelance writer in Los Angeles. After helping turn Virginia blue in November 2019, Lucy began her new role as Organizing Director of PPAV. Since then, she has become enamored of her position as manager to four stellar organizers.

In 2021, Lucy became the VLPP/RRFP Community Abortion Doula Program manager. She is a trained abortion doula who loves to work with patients, supporting them at their health care visits.

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