<mediadc-video-embed data-state="{"cms.site.owner":{"_ref":"00000161-3486-d333-a9e9-76c6fbf30000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b93390000"},"cms.content.publishDate":1656513674255,"cms.content.publishUser":{"_ref":"00000179-379a-dbb2-a7fd-bfda8bfc0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"cms.content.updateDate":1656513674255,"cms.content.updateUser":{"_ref":"00000179-379a-dbb2-a7fd-bfda8bfc0000","_type":"00000161-3461-dd66-ab67-fd6b933a0007"},"rawHtml":"
var _bp = _bp||[]; _bp.push({ "div": "Brid_56513668", "obj": {"id":"27789","width":"16","height":"9","video":"1042265"} }); ","_id":"00000181-afe8-da7c-a7c7-efecb5f10000","_type":"2f5a8339-a89a-3738-9cd2-3ddf0c8da574"}”>Video EmbedCity council members in Alexandria, Virginia, are urging the state government to protect abortion rights after Gov. Glenn Youngkin asked lawmakers to draft legislation that would ban the procedure after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Alexandria lawmakers voted unanimously on the resolution during a contentious city council meeting Tuesday that attracted both pro-abortion rights activists and anti-abortion protesters. The resolution, which is largely symbolic because it doesn’t hold legislative power, requests the Virginia General Assembly to oppose new abortion restrictions and asks the city attorney to join litigation seeking to protect access to the procedure.
YOUNGKIN TO PUSH FOR 15-WEEK ABORTION BAN IN VIRGINIA
“Abortion is an essential reproductive health service and its availability is an important part of ensuring every American’s right to safe and accessible health care,” the resolution reads. “That right to a safe abortion has proven essential to the ability of women across this nation to protect their health, their lives, and the financial stability of their families.”
The resolution comes after Youngkin requested four Virginia lawmakers, all of whom oppose abortion, to draft legislation that would ban abortions after 15 weeks with exceptions for rape, incest, and harm to the mother’s life. If passed, the legislation would reverse current state law that allows the procedure up until the third trimester.
Although Youngkin wants a 15-week ban, he conceded that compromises might be needed to pass the legislation. Concessions may include extending the ban until 20 weeks, which Youngkin noted is a widely agreed-upon time frame among members of Congress and other lawmakers for when a fetus begins to feel pain.
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The resolution by Alexandria lawmakers also urges the city manager to consider budget proposals that would ensure low-income residents can access abortion clinics, as well as other reproductive health services. Part of doing this would also require the manager to work with the city zoning department to ensure abortion clinics get “unfettered administrative approval in any commercial or mixed-use zone.”
The Supreme Court announced on Friday its opinion on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, ruling that Mississippi can maintain its law banning abortion after 15 weeks of gestation. As a result, the court overturned the nearly 50-year-old ruling in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortions nationwide, instead leaving it to the states to determine limits on when a woman can terminate a pregnancy.
