VA Democrats Condemn Supreme Court's 'All-Out Assault' On Women

VIRGINIA — Democratic leaders in Virginia condemned the U.S. Supreme Court's decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade, while Republicans welcomed the court's decision to let states decide whether abortion should be legal.

Virginia could see an increase in the number of abortions performed, with several nearby states expected to outlaw abortion or make it extremely difficult to get.

Virginia Democrats said the decision will jeopardize the health and autonomy of millions of American women.

"This decision will take control over personal health care decisions away from individuals and give it to politicians in state legislatures across the country," U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA) said in a statement Friday. "I am heartbroken for the generations of women who now have fewer rights than when they were born, many of whom will be forced into life-threatening or prohibitively expensive circumstances to access health care as a result of this radical decision."

Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D), who represents Virginia's 10th Congressional District, said the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade was "an all-out assault on women’s right to an abortion — our worst fears, realized — handed down by an extreme and partisan court that is violating decades of precedent."

"Criminalizing abortion, as this decision allows for, will be disastrous for women’s health," Wexton said.

REACTION: Protesters Gather After Supreme Court Strikes Down Roe V. Wade

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) said the court "has rightfully returned power to the people and their elected representatives in the states."

"I'm proud to be a pro-life Governor and plan to take every action I can to protect life," Youngkin said in a statement Friday. "The truth is, Virginians want fewer abortions, not more abortions. We can build a bipartisan consensus on protecting the life of unborn children, especially when they begin to feel pain in the womb, and importantly supporting mothers and families who choose life."

Youngkin has asked state lawmakers to introduce legislation when the General Assembly returns in January to protect "the life of unborn children, especially when they begin to feel pain in the womb," he said.

Victoria LaCivita, a spokeswoman for Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R), issued a statement welcoming the Supreme Court's decision.

"Today the Supreme Court ruled that the issue of abortion should not be decided by unelected federal judges, but by the people of the States through their elected representatives," LaCivita said. "The Attorney General will continue to uphold and enforce both the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Virginia."

In Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution of the United States protected a pregnant woman's freedom to choose to have an abortion. The court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade means that after nearly 50 years, that right was no longer guaranteed nationwide, and more than half of states were expected to ban or harshly limit access to abortion following Friday's ruling.

Several states will allow no exceptions for women who become pregnant through rape or incest or in cases where abortion is necessary to protect the health of the woman.

Abortion is legal in Virginia, and the state does not have an anti-abortion law that would be triggered by the Supreme Court's ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.

Women from nearby states with laws ready to make abortion illegal were expected to travel to the state to have the procedure after the Supreme Court returned to states the decision on whether to allow abortions.

Without a federal backstop protecting abortion rights, one group in Virginia, REPRO Rising VA, is prepared to support people who will seek abortion in Virginia now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade.

REPRO Rising VA, a former NARAL affiliate that became independent earlier this year, said it will refocus on those most affected by abortion restrictions and protecting reproductive rights in a divided state government.

“After 20 years of fighting for abortion rights and access in a swing state, we are refocusing our mission and resources on the realities of a post-Roe world," Tarina Keene, executive director of REPRO Rising VA, said in a statement.

READ ALSO: Roe V. Wade Overturned: What It Means In Virginia

Democrats in Virginia, who control the state Senate, vowed to block any attempts by Youngkin and his fellow Republicans to make abortion illegal in the state. But Republicans are only one vote away from controlling the Senate in the 2023 elections and already hold the House of Delegates and the governor’s office.

Sen. Louise Lucas, the president pro tempore of the Virginia Senate, said she would continue to fight for abortion rights to remain in Virginia.

"I am outraged by today's Supreme Court ruling on abortion," Lucas tweeted in response to the Supreme Court ruling. "As Chairman of the Virginia Senate Health Committee, I will never allow any bill that restricts a woman's right to choose to emerge from our committee. Virginia will remain open for choice."

Lucas said the 2023 election could be a deciding factor in the future of abortion rights in Virginia.

If Republicans win back the Senate in Virginia next year, the state will go on the list of states that ban abortion, Lucas said, adding: "We are one vote away from losing everything in Virginia."

State Sen. Jennifer McClellan (D) was the leading Senate patron of the 2020 Reproductive Health Protection Act, the first-of-its-kind law in the South to remove medically unnecessary restrictions on abortion. She said the “highly political Supreme Court ruling is out-of-step with 50 years of legal precedent and nearly 70 percent of Americans who support Roe v. Wade.”

“The Supreme Court’s decision today will dramatically impact the lives and health of millions of Americans, and empower state governments to interfere in the relationship between a patient and their provider,” McClellan said.

A recent survey in Virginia conducted by Change Research from May 27 to June 2 found that 77 percent of all Virginia voters believed decisions about pregnancy should be made by women, not politicians.

Thirty-seven percent of independent voters in the survey said that overturning Roe v. Wade made them more likely to vote for Democratic candidates, as opposed to 20 percent who were more likely to support Republicans.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA), who previously said he has a "faith-based opposition” to abortion, said Friday that he is "deeply disturbed" that the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"That’s why I’ve been engaged in efforts in the Senate to codify the basic framework of Roe v. Wade and related cases into federal law," he said.