Governor Terry McAuliffe promised Wednesday to veto legislation that would ban abortion after 20 weeks of pregnancy.
“I can’t sit back and have that sitting out the same time I am traveling the globe recruiting businesses to Virginia,” McAuliffe told the Associated Press. “If there’s something that would be damaging toward business, and to our image around the country and the globe, I’ll veto it, you bet I will.”
A Republican state assemblyman is set to propose a ban on abortions after 20 weeks, which is when fetuses begin to feel pain. A similar law was passed last month in Ohio.
But McAuliffe, the former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, says that he wants to signal to Virginia’s potential business partners that the “socially divisive” pro-life bill will not become law.
McAuliffe is known for aggressively pursuing business deals. He is reportedly under a federal public corruption investigation involving a $120,000 campaign contribution which he received from a Chinese businessman in 2013.
When the federal probe was revealed last year, McAuliffe initially denied ever meeting the Chinese national, Wang Wenliang. But the Democrat was forced to admit that he did know Wenliang after video footage surfaced of the Chinese billionaire attending a McAuliffe fundraiser (held at Hillary Clinton’s Washington D.C. residence).