NORTHERN VIRGINIA – Could more women be traveling to Virginia for an abortion? Advocates on both sides of the issue believe it’s possible.
In the year following the Supreme Court’s landmark ruling on Dobbs overturned Roe vs. Wade, more restrictions are going into effect in the South.
That leaves the commonwealth poised to become the only state in the region to allow an abortion with minimal restrictions.
Pro-life advocates credit tougher laws in southern states for saving an estimated 200,000 babies from abortion. But in Virginia, where the laws are more lax, clinics are bracing or an influx of patients.
Many believe that makes Virginia the next big battleground over the issue, especially as the laws in the southern states begin to take hold.
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Susan Liebel, director of state affiars with the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, told CBN News, “If you zoom into the south specifically, essentially all our states here in the southern region have passed legislation that protects the unborn and that is from a gestational perspective of either 12 weeks heartbeat or sooner.”
Since the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs last year, the commonwealth’s neighbors to the south have passed some of the strictest abortion laws in the nation.
Virginia’s abortion laws are among the more liberal, with the procedure allowed until 26 weeks, and since 2020, women are not obligated to observe a 24-hour waiting period after an ultrasound to get an abortion.
State Democrats in the legislature recently defeated several bills that would have limited abortion access.
“There was pushback, of course, on any pro-life legislation, including the 15-week bill from the pro-abortion Virginia Senate,” Liebel explained.
Nearby North Carolina’s new law banning the procedure after 12 weeks of pregnancy takes effect July 1st.
Amid court challenges, South Carolina Republican lawmakers have approved – and the governor has signed – a prohibition after 6 weeks. If it passes judicial muster, Virginia would be the only southeastern state to allow an abortion after the first trimester.
Abby Johnson, CEO of And Then There Were None Ministries, noted, “Texas completely banning abortion – I think that is moving things in the right direction.”
Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas and Louisiana have near-total bans in place, and it’s no longer allowed after 6 weeks in Georgia and Florida.
In a pro-life ad, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated, “These babies have beating hearts. They can move. They can taste.”
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With the spread of limited access legislation, there’s concern on both sides that Virginia will become and abortion destination. Planned Parenthood, which runs clinics around the state, expects thousands of out-of-state patients in the coming months.
Still, pro-liffe advocates are encouraged.
“Yes, there are women who are traveling out of state to have abortions,” Johnson said. “But I also think, and I have seen, that many women who maybe would have, before, chosen abortion are now choosing life – just because now there’s so much information, so much talk about abortion in the media.”
And Virginia could soon strengthen its laws as well, if Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin has his way.
Youngkin supports a 15-week ban and has said he would sign anti-abortion legislation sent to his desk. He may well get the chance if the legislature goes red in the November election.
At the same time, the courts are considering the future of abortion pills, which account for more than half of all U.S. abortions.
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