The Republican House Delegate running to represent the State Senate’s 17th District told radio host John Fredericks she counters the Democrats’ pro-abortion messaging with her own adoption story during her Thursday “The John Fredericks Show” appearance.
“I was adopted. It’s something that ever since I’ve been in the House of Delegates in the past six years, I’ve worked on adoption and foster care reform because that’s not just the issue,” said Delegate Emily Brewer, who currently represents the chamber’s 64th District.
Brewer, owner of the Suffolk’s Haven and Hull wine bar, was pressed by Fredericks, who pointed out that Democrats have no fear advocating for unfettered abortion rights in Virginia and across the country with no meaningful response from conservatives.
In Virginia’s 2023 off-cycle legislative elections, both General Assembly chambers are up for grabs. Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin was elected to his one-term in 2019, when his coattails bought in enough Republicans to take control of the House of Delegates.
Going into 2023, Democrats hold a 22-18 margin in the State Senate, where there are only a handful of competitive races.
With a three-seat pickup, Youngkin lifts the Democratic blockade on his agenda — and opens up the possibility of the billionaire money manager seeking the White House — in 2024 or later — after he is termed out of the mansion in Richmond.
Fredericks, who is in the middle of a bus tour of the commonwealth in support of Republican candidates, said the handling of the abortion issue is frustrating.
“How are you going to overcome the fact that, obviously, they’ve done polling because I’ve been in seven districts,” he said.
“I’ve seen over a hundred ads for Democrats,” the host said.
“All they talk about is apportion. So, obviously, they think that one issue is going to be able to put them over the top. When you are asked about it, what is your position, and how do you combat that?” he asked.
Virginia became an epicenter for the abortion debate in 2019 when Democrats, fresh from taking over both chambers of the General Assembly, introduced the Repeal Act, which would strike down commonwealth abortion restrictions.
The Old Dominion’s then-Democratic Governor Ralph Northam was asked Jan. 19, 2019, about the bill on WTOP’s “Ask the Governor” program. He defended the bill that would strip an unborn child of legal rights up until the moment of birth — and according to the governor beyond:
If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that’s what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother.”
The governor, who is a practicing pediatric neurologist, went into more detail:
This is why decisions such as this should be made by providers, physicians, and the mothers and fathers that are involved. When we talk about third-trimester abortions, these are done with the consent of obviously the mother, with the consent of the physician — more than one physician, by the way — and it’s done in cases where there may be severe deformities. There may be a fetus that’s non-viable.”
Brewer was one of the Virginia Republicans speaking at the Feb. 1, 2019, “Press Conference for Life,” where she shared her adoption story in fuller detail:
I want to take you back to 1984. Not a day I quite remember, but it’s a day that became the best day of two very special people’s lives. My mom and dad fostered kids for years and had never been able to adopt. In one night, they got a call that was divine intervention. See, my birth mother had an unplanned pregnancy. She knew deep down she could not care for me, and she had three options.
The first was to care for me for 18 years. She knew that wasn’t possible. The second was to have an abortion, and the third was to choose life, and I’m thankful that she did. She gave me up for adoption, and last week, my adopted mother sat in a gallery proud of her youngest, her only daughter actually, and one of the youngest delegates in the General Assembly. That’s all she wanted for her birthday.
Her and my father had tried for years prior to my adoption. The process was difficult, and that’s why I made it my mission to fix a broken system and encourage adoption over abortion. The testimony I watched earlier this week shook me into my court because back on that day in 1984, I didn’t quite arrive on time, but I lived.
Had this legislation been in place, who knows how things could have turned out?”
The Repeal Act did not advance to floor votes because of the uproar over Northam’s remarks.
Brewer told Fredericks in addition to sharing her adoption story; pro-life Republicans need to flesh out the conversation with support for mothers contemplating abortions.
“People need to be talking about how they support expectant mothers, which I worked with Governor Youngkin to carry a bill to support expectant mothers at the time where they need support the most,” the native of the western Tidewater said.
“That’s the truth,” she said. “We have to be talking about things that support women. We need to be making sure we’re talking about making adoption easier, making sure we’re strengthening a foster care system to put those kids on a pathway to success.”
Brewer said she is campaigning in favor of the governor’s proposed ban on abortions after 15 weeks, which is the point where it is generally accepted that the unborn child recoils from pain.
“As Republicans and something that’s always been near and dear to my heart,” she said.
“I proudly supported the governor’s limitation this year, and I’m not going to run from that,” she said.
“Democrats need to be running scared.”
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Neil W. McCabe is a staff reporter for The Virginia Star.
Photo “Emily Brewer” by Emily Brewer.
