Miyares opposes prosecuting women seeking abortions
Youngkin denounces Virginia Democrats at anti-abortion rally
RICHMOND — Speaking at an annual anti-abortion rally and march, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares said Wednesday he opposes the idea that women should be prosecuted for seeking abortions.
“The pro-life message is one of compassion. And there have been some voices in this country saying we should prosecute women who make the decision to have an abortion. That is not right,” said Miyares, a Republican and former Virginia Beach delegate.
Miyares said the anti-abortion movement should instead focus on backing charities that support struggling mothers.
The attorney general was one of several speakers at Wednesday’s “Virginia March for Life,” the first time the annual event has taken place since last year’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
A crowd of roughly 1,500 attendees rallied on Capitol Square for the series of speeches before marching peacefully through adjacent streets. Speakers celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision and exhorted attendees to mobilize and press their elected officials to do more to restrict abortion in Virginia, which has some of the South’s most permissive laws.
Every seat in the General Assembly will be on the ballot in November.
For a second year, Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined the crowd after the speeches. He gave brief remarks before the march.
Youngkin, a Republican, said he was “incredibly disappointed” with Democrats in control of the state Senate, who so far have blocked a series of measures that would restriction abortion access. Democrats also have pursued a resolution that would start a process of enshrining abortion protections into the state constitution, though that legislation has been defeated in the GOP-led House.
“They’re out of touch with Virginians, and that’s why we’re here today,” he said.
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last year, Youngkin said he hoped lawmakers in the politically divided General Assembly would send a bill to his desk banning abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy with exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother.
That bill and others were defeated last week in the Senate.
“The truth is, as long as Senate Democrats have our majority, the brick wall will stand strong, and these extreme bills will never pass,” Sen. L. Louise Lucas said at the time.
Miyares, in his remarks, did not mention any particular elected official. But Alabama’s attorney general has recently drawn attention for remarks that initially suggested pregnant women could be prosecuted for taking the abortion pill.
Many of the Virginia abortion-restriction bills lawmakers have considered this session would have penalized medical providers, not patients, for violations of their provisions.
Miyares, as one of his first acts as attorney general, altered the state’s position on the abortion case before the Supreme Court last year. His office argued that the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which affirmed the constitutional right to an abortion, and the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey case, which reaffirmed Roe but set a new standard on evaluating restrictions, “were wrongly decided.”