This November, if Republicans flip the cards by winning the state Senate and holding the house of delegates, Governor Glenn Youngkin will have the chance to put a 15 week abortion ban in Virginia.

In Virginia, abortions are allowed until the third trimester, whereas most other southern states, with the exception of North and South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, have a full ban on abortion unless there is a threat to the patient’s life.

Because Virginia is the only state left in the south, all the attention is focused on replacing the 26 week ban with a 15 week ban. “Virginia now stands alone as the only state in the south where the GOP has not successfully imposed a post-Roe ban on abortion,” said Chairwoman of the Democratic Party, Susan Swecker.

Kristan Hawkins is head of Students For Life of America, which is the largest, most leading anti-abortion group in the country. During June of last year, she aimed to end Roe V. Wade. Pro-choice supporters said that her activism had contributed to cutting off abortion access for around 20 million women. According to BBC News, pro-choice advocates say that Hawkins’ work pushed the U.S. into a mental health crisis.

In the U.S., almost 350,000 teenagers under the age of 18 get pregnant yearly and about 82-percent of pregnancies are unintended. As far as medical risks, adolescent mothers from ages 10-19 can experience greater risks of eclampsia, which are seizures that occur after childbirth, as well as infections like puerperal endometritis. 

Teenagers that give birth also have an increased chance of abusing alcohol and substances, and doing poorly in school. Giving birth at such a young age can also lower one’s self esteem levels, and potentially lead to developing suicidal thoughts.

As access to abortion has plummeted in the U.S., especially in the south, pressure grows as people able to get pregnant travel out-of-state to Virginia for abortions. Due to lots of people traveling out-of-state to Virginia to get abortions, there has been a strain put on abortion funds set aside for those that can not afford an abortion. “We started to see people – believe it or not – coming all the way from Texas into Virginia,” said Amy Hagstrom Miller, CEO and Founder of Whole Woman’s Health. 

As of now, Virginia is the only state in the south without significant restrictions for abortion. Virginia allows abortions until the first and second trimester (26 weeks), and sometimes during the third trimester if physicians come to the conclusion that the person’s mental and/or physical health is at risk. Abortions are allowed anytime if their pregnancy will result in death of the child or of the birthgiver. 

What does the public opinion have to say about these decisions? According to the results of the Commonwealth Poll of 2022, half of the respondents believed that Virginia’s abortion laws should be kept the same, 18-percent of people believed that the laws were too prohibitive, and 20-percent of people thought that the laws were too free. “No one should have to travel outside their community to get the health care services that they need,” said Rachel Hardeman, a researcher and professor at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health. 

Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin’s decisions for abortion may change many people’s lives after this upcoming election in November. With the national party not doing enough to avert Youngkin from winning the state Senate, he may try to pass a 15 week abortion ban with exceptions for incest, rape, and saving the life of the birth giver.