Youngkin says potential abortion ban bill likely won’t reach his desk to sign

HENRICO, Va. (WWBT) - Virginia’s governor spent part of his Friday at Temperpack – a packaging company. He toured the Henrico-based facility and spoke with employees.

“One of the greatest things about this job is something different every hour,” said Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

After that, Youngkin and the First Lady visited with the Capitol Police K-9 unit to learn more about how they keep the complex safe.

Then NBC12 had a chance to speak with the governor about State Sen. Amanda Chase’s plans to introduce the “Life Begins at Conception Act.” The governor says it will likely never reach his desk and he still supports a 15-week threshold.

“So I feel like there’s a real chance for us to come together around this 15-week bill. And I asked some of our respected senior leaders in the General Assembly to work on that and I’m hopeful they will bring it to my desk,” said Youngkin.

But the Democrat-controlled state Senate will likely block any measure from moving forward.

“She’s taking it to the extreme. Her proposal would even ban in-vitro fertilization. We’ve seen this extreme legislation before. We stopped it when Bob Marshall introduced it. We’ll stop it now,” said State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-9th District.

The governor also says he feels the same momentum ahead of the mid-terms as he did before his own election last year. That’s why he’s lending his political star power to races here in Virginia and across the country.

“People were so helpful to me last year, and across the commonwealth we had focus to stand up and say I’m for Glenn and lend me their coattails and governors - Republican governors - from across the country came together and supported me,” said Youngkin.

The governor says he’s optimistic about the results for next week. He’s out campaigning right now for fellow Republicans, but plans to be back in Richmond on Election Day.

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