The Virginia General Assembly used part of its one-day extra session to block insurance programs purchased through a federal health care exchange from paying for abortions. The measure, which is backed by Gov. Bob McDonnell, passed in a close Virginia Senate vote after two Democratic members broke party ranks and sided with Republicans in the evenly split chamber.

Under the terms of the federal Affordable Care Act, commonly known as “Obamacare,” every state and the District is required to either establish a health insurance exchange or have the federal government create one. The exchanges are designed to give a lower-cost insurance option to people who do not have employer-provided health care.

The amendment passed yesterday prevents plans offered on the new exchange from paying for nearly all abortions, except when the life of the mother is endangered. It passed by a wide margin in the House of Delegates where, according to the Associated Press, everyone’s favorite legislator, Del. Bob Marshall, called even that an “overly broad exception.”

Women’s health advocates were irate with yesterday’s vote. “We are extremely disappointed that the majority of the members of the General Assembly put politics above women’s health when they approved the Governor’s amendment,” Cianti Stewart-Reid, the head of Planned Parenthood in Virginia, said in a news release. “Most health plans already include coverage for abortion. Now, the women of the Commonwealth will not have access to the full range of reproductive health services and the promise of the Affordable Care Act, which included historic health care benefits for women.”