McAuliffe Urges Texas Salesforce Employees to Move to Virginia to Escape Heartbeat Law

Democratic Virginia gubernatorial candidate Terry McAuliffe is inviting the Texas-based employees of software company Salesforce to relocate to Virginia to escape the Lone Star state’s new heartbeat abortion law.

Salesforce shared in a Slack message to staff last week that the company would help those concerned about the Texas law to move to a state with more expansive abortion access.

“My message to companies like Salesforce is clear: come to Virginia – where we remain open and welcoming, and opposed to dangerous abortion bans that put women’s health and lives at risk – all of which Glenn Youngkin would enact as governor,” he told The Hill.

With the November 2 general election on the horizon, McAuliffe is warning that his opponent, Glenn Youngkin, is sympathetic to the Texas law, which prohibits abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected, and could sponsor a similar pro-life measure in Virginia.

McAuliffe, who served as Virginia governor from 2014 to 2018, boasted about his record of fighting to preserve access to abortion by obstructing pro-life legislation with his executive veto power the last time he was in the governor’s mansion.

“We’ve seen these extreme right-wing attacks on reproductive health in Virginia before, and as governor, I fought back against every single one,” McAuliffe said in statement provided to the publication. “I kept women’s health clinics open when extreme right-wing Republicans like Glenn Youngkin tried to force them to close, and I vetoed every anti-women’s health bill including multiple efforts to defund Planned Parenthood. This dangerous Texas law is exactly what Glenn has in mind when he says he wants to go ‘on offense’ to ban abortion in the Commonwealth. The fact is it is dangerous, it would harm our economy, and I will not let it happen in Virginia.”

McAuliffe followed up the interview by posting a statement on Twitter in which he suggested that Virginia’s more permissive abortion regime is beneficial for its business climate.

Early on in his career, the Democratic politician established himself as virulently pro-abortion figure, telling host Chris Matthews in a 2001 interview that he supported elective abortion, without a single restriction, throughout all nine months of pregnancy.

“Are you for abortion rights all the way down the line?” Matthews asked McAuliffe, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee at the time. He quickly responded, “Yes.”

Last week, McAuliffe refused to say whether he would veto a radical bill that would codify Roe v. Wade and allow an abortion up to the very end of a nine month pregnancy if a doctor deemed it essential for the woman’s mental health.

As the race tightens, both candidates are tapping into national sentiments on polarizing issues, with Youngkin’s campaign raising the alarm on crime rates and McAuliffe’s campaign cautioning voters against electing a governor who might take his cues on abortion from other red states.

If Youngkin were to spearhead a Virginia version of the heartbeat bill, his personal beliefs suggest it would include exceptions for crisis cases, which the Texas law does not permit.

“I’m pro-life. I’ve said it from the beginning of this campaign,” Youngkin said, according to The Hill. “I believe in exceptions in the case of rape, in the case of incest and in the case where the mother’s life is in jeopardy.”

More from National Review

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• Terry McAuliffe Has Always Been an Abortion Extremist

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