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Fairfax Co.’s Descano: ‘I will never prosecute a woman for having an abortion’

Neal Augenstein | naugenstein@wtop.com

May 31, 2022, 12:15 PM

If the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade and Virginia outlaws abortion, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano said Tuesday that he will never “prosecute women for having an abortion or being suspected of inducing one.”

Talking to WTOP after a Tuesday op-ed in the New York Times, entitled “My Governor Can Pass Bad Abortion Laws. But I Won’t Enforce Them,” Descano, a Democrat, said local prosecutors “are the last line of defense when it comes to criminalizing women for making their own health care decisions.”

With the leaked draft of the Supreme Court opinion suggesting the high court is set to overturn the landmark law legalizing abortion nationwide, Descano said he thinks “that is going to set off a torrent of anti-women laws all across the country, including potentially in the Commonwealth of Virginia.” ... Descano said Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, “is unabashedly anti-choice and he has made it clear that he wants to go on offense on this, so I very much see that it’s a possibility that the law in Virginia could change.”

Youngkin, who has backed states having the autonomy to create their own abortion rights laws, has not stated whether he would push for a new abortion law in Virginia. ... Contacted by WTOP, Youngkin’s spokeswoman Macaulay Porter declined comment on Descano’s Times column.

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Neal Augenstein
Neal Augenstein has been a reporter at WTOP since 1997. Through the years, Neal has covered many of the crimes and trials that have gripped the region. Neal's been pleased to receive awards over the years for hard news, feature reporting, use of sound and sports.

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