Glenn Youngkin will make a push for a ban on abortions at 15 weeks of pregnancy, according to reporting from The Washington Post, whose reporters, editors and editorial writers were meeting with the Virginia governor as the Supreme Court announced its decision to overturn Roe v. Wade on Friday.
“Virginians do want fewer abortions as opposed to more abortions,” Youngkin said. “I am not someone who is going to jump in and try to push us apart … There is a place we can come together.”
Actually, public opinion polls have consistently showed nearly two-thirds backing the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe, but so much for what people want.
Democrats have a bare 21-19 majority in the State Senate, so getting anything through the General Assembly next year, ahead of November 2023 elections in which all 140 seats in the Senate and the House of Delegates are up for re-election, will be a tough go.
The Senate Republican caucus, in a statement on Friday, made it clear where its members stand.
“We hope our Democratic colleagues will reconsider their extremism on the issue of life, and join us in restoring practical, sensible, and reasonable policies that ensure the health and safety of mothers and protect the lives of our most vulnerable Virginians,” the caucus said.
Keep that in mind when you’re thinking next year about your favorite nice Republican, and Emmett Hanger, you are first and foremost on my mind here.
Richmond Democratic State Sen. Jennifer McClellan said Friday that the proposed Youngkin ban is “out of step with what a majority of Virginians want,” because facts.
“We’re going to say no. We’re going to say to the party that professes to care about parental rights, you will not insert yourself into the decision whether to become a parent in the first place,” McClellan said.
Bath County Democratic State Sen. Creigh Deeds said in a statement that “women will continue to have access to legal and safe abortion here in Virginia.”
“The right of any individual to control their own healthcare decisions is essential if we are going to have economic opportunity for all,” Deeds said. “A woman’s right to make these critical healthcare decisions has long been acknowledged by that settled law, and today’s decision tragically separates women into classes of citizenship by geography. If you live in a state that acknowledges your fundamental rights, you have equal opportunity. If you live in a state that doesn’t acknowledge your fundamental rights, you are essentially a second-class citizen. The decision of today’s Supreme Court is unacceptable.
“Every election is critically important,” Deeds said. “It is essential that we maintain the Democratic majority in the Senate of Virginia and regain the majority in the House of Delegates so we can protect those rights for all Virginians.”
Former House speaker Eileen Filler-Corn said in a statement Friday that the Supreme Court decision is a “staggering rollback of human rights.”
Filler-Corn said Youngkin’s support for a 15-week abortion ban “puts Virginia Democratic legislators on the frontlines of protecting abortion access in the south and increases the urgency to turn Virginia blue.”
“I invite Virginians to join our coalition to protect a woman’s right to self-determination,” Filler-Corn said.
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Chris Graham
