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Abortion continued to prove a motivating issue for Democratic voters in Tuesday night’s primaries in Virginia, suggesting that its potency hasn’t waned in the months since the midterms.
The starkest evidence of that was incumbent Democratic state Sen. Joe Morrissey’s loss to Lashrecse Aird, a progressive former Virginia lawmaker backed by abortion advocacy groups and prominent Democrats including US Sen. Tim Kaine.
Morrissey, who represents parts of Petersburg and Richmond, is among a dwindling few Democratic public officials across the country who describe themselves as “pro-life.” Though he said he would not have supported Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s failed attempt to implement a ban on abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy, he did co-sponsor another bill that would have imposed a 20-week ban.
Similarly, in the 55th state house district surrounding Charlottesville, self-described “champion for women’s rights” Amy Laufer also won her Democratic primary against ER nurse Kellen Squire after accusing him of being untrustworthy in his support of abortion rights. She had described abortion as a personal issue for her after experiencing a high-risk pregnancy.
Abortion will likely continue to be top of mind for voters heading into the fall as they decide control of both chambers of the state legislature in a key swing state. Due to redistricting, every seat in both chambers is open. If Republicans consolidate power, they would be able to pass Youngkin’s proposed abortion ban, which was previously blocked by Democrats in the state Senate.
Currently, Virginia allows abortions up to about 26 weeks of pregnancy and, after that, only in cases where three doctors attest that the pregnant person’s life is at risk. It’s become a regional abortion hub since other states in the South have moved to severely restrict abortion. Youngkin’s proposal for a 15-week ban includes exceptions for rape, incest, and to save the pregnant person’s life. Democrats have argued that the governor’s proposal could result in prison time for women and doctors, but Youngkin’s office has dismissed that framing as “political posturing” and said that he will not imprison women.
Youngkin has also proposed barring state Medicaid from covering abortions when a fetus has an “incapacitating” physical or mental deformity, and preventing state funds from being used to support abortion services.
“I think Virginia voters are unequivocally clear about the fact that they don’t want an abortion ban,” said Lauren Chou, a spokesperson for Emily’s List. “Given what we’ve seen in the primary, that momentum is only going to grow in the general.”
Virginia’s elections, which come one year before presidential contests, are often seen as bellwethers — and as such, influence national party strategies for the year ahead. If Democrats are able to make gains in the state this fall, it would be another signal that abortion continues to be a winning issue for them even in states as closely divided as Virginia, which is the last remaining state in the South with access to abortion beyond 12 weeks of pregnancy.
Abortion continues to be a motivating issue
Nearly a year after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, a vast and growing majority of Americans back abortion access. A quarter of Americans said that they had become more supportive of abortion rights due to state efforts to restrict access in a June USA Today/Suffolk University poll.
In addition to the results of Virginia’s primaries, state-level contests in the months since the midterms have reflected that abortion rights are driving voters to the polls. Also in Virginia earlier this year, state Sen. Aaron Rouse won a special election by campaigning on abortion rights against a candidate who embraced Youngkin’s proposed ban. He ran multiple TV ads focusing on the issue and received more than $100,000 from Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia.
In Wisconsin, pro-abortion Milwaukee County Judge Janet Protasiewicz won a seat on the state Supreme Court in an April blowout election that proved the most expensive judicial contest in US history. She gave the state’s highest court a liberal majority after breaking with convention for judicial candidates in making her support for abortion rights plain. The stakes were high: Wisconsin has a 173-year-old abortion ban that makes no exceptions for cases involving rape or incest but does allow the procedure when the pregnant person’s life is in danger. A case challenging that law is likely to come before the state Supreme Court soon.
Pro-abortion and Democratic groups are already eyeing contests in Virginia’s fall elections that are also likely to hinge on abortion. That includes a battleground state senate race in Northern Virginia’s Loudoun County, where former CIA officer Russet Perry, who is backed by Emily’s List, is campaigning on preserving abortion access for her young daughter and other women. The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee (DLCC) is also prioritizing protecting Rouse’s seat.
The DLCC is continuing to advise down-ballot candidates to make sure that their constituents understand what it means to have abortion access and that “this is a private decision between families and their doctors,” said spokesperson Gabrielle Chew. But she also said that candidates are being encouraged to speak about abortion and family planning as an economic issue.
“We think that this will definitely be an issue that can help showcase just how extreme the Republican Party has become. The only way to protect this right — as well as other fundamental rights, like voting access — is to elect Democrats,” she said.
It’s not clear whether Republicans are receiving similar guidance. Some have refrained from speaking about abortion altogether, recognizing it as an issue that mostly activates the left and alienates swing voters and independents. But others have doubled down on anti-abortion rhetoric: Republican Virginia Sen. Siobhan Dunnavant, who ran unopposed Tuesday’s primaries, is facing a tough reelection fight, but she’s made abortion restrictions key to her platform as a practicing OB-GYN, calling for a ban on abortions after 22 weeks of pregnancy at the earliest.
