The Virginia General Assembly convened for its 2025 legislative session on January 8. Within two weeks, the House of Delegates and the Senate voted to approve the “Fundamental Right to Reproductive Freedom” resolution. This was the resolution’s first full-house vote in the amendment process.
In summary, the resolution proposes an amendment to Virginia’s Constitution that:
“Provides that every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom and that such right shall not be denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest, defined within the text of the amendment, and achieved by the least restrictive means. The amendment allows the Commonwealth to regulate the provision of abortion care in the third trimester when it is medically indicated to protect the life or health of the pregnant individual or when the fetus is not viable. The amendment prohibits the Commonwealth from penalizing, prosecuting, or taking adverse action against an individual for exercising the individual's right to reproductive freedom or for aiding another individual in the exercise of such right.”
The resolution can be read in its entirety here.
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The Democrat-majority House of Delegates approved the resolution (HJ1) with a vote of 51 (Y) to 48 (N). The Democrat-majority Senate approved the resolution (SJ247) with a vote of 21 (Y) to 19 (N).
According to AP News, Republican lawmakers “blasted Democrats for refusing to add language to the abortion amendment that would explicitly require parental consent for minors.”
“I am required to be present for every single one of my children’s doctor appointments today,” Republican Del. Carrie Coyner said. “Yet this amendment would allow my daughter to make a decision that would change the course of her life without consulting me. How can we place such a heavy burden on young women across the Commonwealth?”
“You either believe in parental rights or you don’t,” said Republican Sen. Mark Obenshain. “Why not put this in and make it clear?”
Ryan Holloway, Executive Director of Care Net Peninsula and President of Virginia Coalition of Pregnancy Centers, spoke with Pregnancy Help News.
“It’s morally repugnant,” Holloway said of the resolution.
“That you would not guarantee a parent’s right over their own minor children who can’t consent is insane,” said Holloway.
“They can’t go to R-rated movies, and they can’t get tattoos; they can’t even go on a field trip without their parent’s consent, yet you would let them go on a field trip to the abortion clinic and have a baby vacuumed out of them [without parental consent], that is somehow a reasonable thing?” Holloway questioned. “That doesn’t even dignify a response.”
“And yet, with the ‘right’ language,” noted Holloway, “somehow people are duped into thinking that’s a reasonable thing.”
“The vagueness really works in their favor,” said Holloway, “because [proponents of the amendment] can tilt it one way to try to convince people [to approve it] and then use it for the very thing they said they weren’t going to use if for at some point in the future.”
In addition to parental consent concerns, Republicans' arguments against the resolution focused on late-term abortions and the amendment’s language on sex and gender.
In a press release following the vote, Caitlin Connors, regional political director for Susan B. Anthony Pro-life America, commented:
“Virginia already allows abortion in the sixth month of pregnancy, but that isn’t enough for Democrats. Their eagerness to break legislative protocol to make third-trimester abortions one of the first votes of 2025 shows just how extreme the Democrat party has become. Their actions are a reminder of the high stakes of Virginia’s legislative races this year. GOP candidates must expose their opponents’ radical agenda for all-trimester abortion, the elimination of parental rights and forced taxpayer funding of abortion.”
The resolution was not a response to post-Roe abortion restrictions in Virginia.
“Virginia remains the only state in the South where reproductive rights haven’t been rolled back since the Dobbs decision,” Democrat Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger commented in a statement thanking Virginia Democrats after the House Delegate vote on January 14.
“We are the last state in the Southern region of America still permitting abortions throughout pregnancy with few regulations in place,” the Virginia Society of Human Life noted last year. “Virginia after Roe is in danger of becoming the abortion capital of the south.”
Holloway is concerned about the amendment’s impact on Virginia’s pregnancy help centers. If passed as an amendment, since pregnancy centers “don’t perform or refer for abortion, that’s basically saying [they] don’t provide women their constitutional rights,” said Holloway.
“You can see the arguments,” Holloway continued, “get the right judges, and before you know it, pregnancy centers in Virginia are deemed illegal to do the things that they do or required to do things that violate their own conscience.”
“It is a real concern for pregnancy centers,” said Holloway. “We would then be at odds with the guaranteed constitutional rights of individuals in Virginia.”
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In Virginia, proposed constitutional amendments must be approved twice by representatives in at least two years, with an election between the two sessions.
After the general election this coming November, the resolution will come before the General Assembly for a second vote. If approved again, it will come before the people of Virginia for a state-wide final vote, expected on November 3, 2026.
The amendment process in Virginia does not require approval by the governor; Governor Glenn Youngkin nor his successor will have any power to veto this proposed amendment.
In recent years, other states have amended their constitutions with language protecting the right to abortion.
In 2023, Ohio voters amended their constitution to include abortion rights. Last fall, voters in Arizona, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nevada, and New York all passed measures protecting abortion “rights” in their state constitutions.
