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Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano says he will refuse to bring charges if Virginia moves to restrict abortion rights in the state.
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Descano says he wants to make it clear that Fairfax County would not go along with any attempt to make abortion illegal, and if the Republican governor is able to get new restrictions in place, Fairfax County would not prosecute any woman or abortion provider.
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In an op-ed in the New York Times titled "My Governor Can Pass Bad Abortion Laws. But I Won’t Enforce Them," Descano, who says he is pro-choice, writes that he was moved to make the declaration due to the leaked Supreme Court opinion which could overturn Roe v. Wade.
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Descano tells FOX 5 he's also concerned about Gov. Glenn Youngkin's pro-life stance he discussed during his 2021 campaign.
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"It makes it very clear that it looks like Roe is going to be on the way out, and we have a governor in Virginia that is very stridently anti-choice, and I fear the same thing a lot of my constituents fear which is we’re going to get laws in Virginia that outlaw abortion, that criminalize women," says Descano. "We want to make sure people know it’s not going to happen in Fairfax County."
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FOX 5 reached out to anti-abortion groups on Tuesday, but did not hear back. FOX 5 also contacted both Gov. Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. Through their respective spokespersons, both declined to comment on Descano's op-ed.