RICHMOND, VA – This evening, North Carolina’s GOP-led House and Senate overrode Democratic Governor Roy Cooper’s veto, instituting a statewide Republican ban on abortion.

Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade last summer, nearly every state across the South banned abortion – either by an act of their legislatures or by existing bans that the Supreme Court had overridden – except in the Commonwealth of Virginia, where Senate Democrats’ “brick wall” stopped multiple GOP abortion bans from passing earlier this year.

“Virginia now stands as only one of a few states in the South where the GOP has not successfully imposed a post-Roe ban on abortion,” said Liam Watson, Press Secretary of the Democratic Party of Virginia. “It's more important than ever that we retake the House of Delegates and defend our majority in the State Senate to protect the rights of Virginia women.”

As Virginia’s southern neighbor, experts believe that the recent ban will result in an increase in North Carolinians traveling to Virginia to seek reproductive care, potentially increasing wait times and disrupting access to abortion for Virginians.

In January, a CNU Poll found that more than 70% of Virginians favor keeping Virginia’s abortion laws unchanged, or making them less restrictive.

###