Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
AP Photo/Steve Helber
- Gov. Youngkin is pushing for a 15-week abortion ban in the wake of Roe v. Wade being overturned.
- Youngkin has assembled a group of Republicans to develop a bill for legislators in Richmond.
- “Virginians do want fewer abortions as opposed to more abortions,” he told The Washington Post on Friday.
Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia on Friday said he would push for a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.
Youngkin, who took office earlier this year, said in a statement that the court’s decision was an “appropriate” return of power “to the people and their elected representatives in the states.”
“Virginians do want fewer abortions as opposed to more abortions,” the governor said in a meeting at The Washington Post shortly after the decision was made public. “I am not someone who is going to jump in and try to push us apart … There is a place we can come together.”
Youngkin assembled four Republican legislators to help write legislation that could potentially attract bipartisan support in a legislature. In the state, the GOP has a 52-48 majority in the House of Delegates while Democrats have a 21-19 edge in the Senate.
The governor in the past has called himself a pro-life governor and said that he’d back exceptions for rape and incest, along with cases where the life of the mother is endangered.
