Virginia: A Divided State In The Fight For Reproductive Rights

Virginia’s political division is unique; every recent election year has allowed the possibility of a transfer of overall power between Republicans and Democrats. Currently, there is no overall control by either party of the triplex (governor, secretary of state, and attorney general) nor the trifecta (state legislature chambers and the governor’s office). This poses specific challenges for either party to advance their respective interests, and in recent years it has posed an issue for Governor Glenn Youngkin, a republican, to push abortion restrictions forward. Gov. Youngkin has been campaigning for a 15-week abortion restriction, and had hoped for a Republican-majority general assembly following the November 2023 election cycle. His policy would allow for exceptions in cases of rape, incest, and when the health of the mother is at stake. While the governor claims that a 15-week restriction will be common ground between conflicting party interests, and that it is not an abortion ban, Democrats have been sure to highlight it as a ban nonetheless; both parties, therefore, have been utilizing specific language to their advantage in the polls as well as public perception of the matter. Objectively, the 15-week restriction is on the more conservative side than the current abortion policy in Virginia, which allows abortion until 26 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy, almost through the second trimester. 

While the policy Youngkin advocates for can be viewed as more progressive than many of his republican colleagues’ proposals and laws across the country, it does not automatically gain Democratic support. His efforts were not as successful as he hoped in the November 2023 elections. Despite this, Glenn Youngkin remains openly pro-life, adding to his image and perception regarding the topic of abortion. He attended the Virginia March for Life in 2023 and for the 2024 protest as well, which occurred just over one month ago. According to March for Life’s official website, their mission focuses on the “beauty and dignity” of all human life. 

When interviewed at the protest, Youngkin pushed a claim that Democrats advocate for abortion even after birth, which is an argument that has been used by Republicans across the country before to ignite fear in the public about Democratic goals for legal abortion. According to the last published Democratic Party Platform, there was no mention of legalizing infanticide. Rather, the party’s goals lie in allowing women to “access high-quality reproductive health care services, including safe and legal abortion.” By definition, abortion and infanticide are extremely different concepts and viewed differently by law. This common argument, which was pushed forward by Republicans including Gov. Youngkin, most commonly refers to comments made by Virginia’s former democratic governor, Ralph Northam. In 2019, Northam received backlash for making comments about caring for newborn infants. Discussing what would happen in the case of fatal abnormalities in a fetus that is non-viable for a third-trimester abortion, his exact words were, “The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.” It’s important to keep in mind that in addition to acting as Virginia’s governor, his life work was in medicine as a pediatric neurologist — he is well aware of the medical cases in which such measures are taken. His comments, which referred to women who would have already needed a third-trimester abortion needing to go into labor for medical reasons, were taken out of context by many politicians. His words were twisted to put a bad name on not only himself, but the democratic party’s beliefs about abortion. 

With the political makeup of Virginia, in which 43% of Virginians lean republican, 39% lean democratic, and 18% lean toward neither party, controversial topics such as abortion will likely continue to be up for debate and subject to change based on the general assembly and governors’ political statuses. It seems that for now, Gov. Youngkin is not successful in his campaign for further abortion restrictions. It’s important for the public to be deeply educated about statements made by politicians and use critical thinking when faced with propaganda in the media and by political parties. For instance, the general American population likely does not know that late-term abortions are extremely rare in the country (In 2020, 93% of abortions in the US happened within the first trimester of pregnancy), or what a 15-week mark in pregnancy actually means. With Virginians having better general knowledge about abortion, healthcare, and the way our political system works, we have a better chance of protecting reproductive rights in the long run.