- Maryland Gov. Wes Moore campaigned for Virginia Democrats on Saturday, dismissing GOP proposals for a 15-week abortion ban.
- “I just think putting arbitrary weeks on abortion bans is not where people are,” Moore told Insider.
- Earlier this year, Moore signed legislation that strengthened abortion protections in Maryland.
After the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, many Republican candidates across the country have struggled at the ballot box among a broad swath of voters — in cities, suburbs, and even many rural areas — who back some form of abortion rights.
Now the GOP is looking for a reset, with Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia looking to help his party win full control of state legislature on Tuesday in order to push through a 15-week abortion ban in the Commonwealth, whose voters over the past decade have largely backed pro-choice candidates for statewide office.
National Republicans, frustrated by Democratic gains on the issue, have sought to paint Democrats as abortion “extremists” for their refusal to support a 15-week ban.
But in an interview with Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland — who spent Saturday stumping for Democratic candidates in Hampton Roads, metropolitan Richmond, and Northern Virginia — he said that the GOP push didn’t reflect the wishes of the Commonwealth’s voters.
“I just think putting arbitrary weeks on abortion bans is not where people are,” the governor told Insider. “The vast majority of people by 15 weeks might not even know if they’re pregnant yet. By continuing to just throw out weeks without any form of data, there’s just heartlessness behind it.”
“I don’t think that’s where people are, and I think people will see that if their governor is using that as a campaign issue as something he wants to pursue, I think he’ll learn on Tuesday that he is in the minority of where people are,” he added.
On Tuesday, all 140 legislative seats in Virginia will be on the ballot, which includes 100 seats in the House of Delegates and 40 seats in the state Senate.
Democrats currently control the state Senate 22-18, while Republicans hold a 48-46 majority (with six vacancies) in the House of Delegates.
Moore earlier this year signed sweeping abortion protections into law in Maryland; the state’s voters next year will head to the ballot box to determine whether to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution.
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