Once again, Virginia parents are being undermined.
Back in 2021, it happened with our kids’ education. We were told we shouldn’t “be telling schools what to teach.” We responded by electing a governor who stood with us and affirmed our role as our children’s primary caregivers.
This time, it’s not about schools, and we aren’t just being hushed - we’re being erased.
Our Virginia General Assembly is in the process of amending our state constitution. Should it pass, this amendment will guarantee the right to abortion to “every individual” - with no distinction between adults and children.
Virginia law currently requires either parental/guardian permission or judicial bypass prior to a minor’s abortion; the proposed amendment mentions neither of these safeguards.
But no one loves our children more than we, their parents, do.
Even now, with adult children, there is no politician, no teacher, no medical provider - and certainly no abortion provider - who loves my daughters more than their dad and I do.
So, parents, while there’s still time, let’s show up for ourselves and our children. Let’s head back to the polls this fall and tell politicians we will not be removed from the care of our children in this area.
Here’s the tricky part: it won’t even look like parental rights are on the ballot – just the names of candidates.
But behind every name on the ballot for the Virginia House of Delegates is a person who will vote in January 2026 to either approve this “right to abortion” or oppose it.
We choose the delegates, and in January, they will vote on this amendment - and, by extension, on us.
The House of Delegates approved it once earlier this year (see the voting record here). If there’s a majority approval again in January, the amendment will advance to the next vote. But the converse is also true: if a majority votes against it, this amendment will be stopped.
As our representatives discussed this amendment, parental rights were not simply forgotten – no, they were debated.
Republican senators fought for our parental rights. But Democrats held the majority and made no concessions for parental rights.
Your underage daughter can’t go on a school field trip, get her ears pierced, or get a tattoo without your involvement. She can’t even return to school after an absence without a note from you. Yet, the majority of our state representatives believe our minor daughters should be able to get abortions without us even knowing.
The proposed “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” states:
“That every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one's own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.”
While much of the amendment affirms services that find universal consensus, mixed within are services that are not universally agreed upon – some of the most universally debated practices of our day.
It’s easy to reduce the controversy of this amendment to either a pro-life or a pro-choice stance. But that oversimplifies the issue and ignores the real dangers it poses to our already-born children.
The amendment’s lean language leaves room for broad interpretation in the form of underage abortions, and, according to Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation, possibly the right to “sex change surgeries for minors.” Again, with no language requiring parental consent.
Only the state’s interest would compel restraint:
“An individual's right to reproductive freedom shall not be, directly or indirectly, denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.”
But the state wasn’t meant to parent our children; that’s our role.
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Already, the abortion pill can be obtained in Virginia with few restrictions: no ultrasound requirement, no in-person requirement, and no “real-time” contact with a provider.
“Because the abortion pill is now offered with little medical oversight, much later into a pregnancy, the dangers continue to increase,” Christa Brown, senior director of Medical Impact with Heartbeat International, told Pregnancy Help News. “The state should not be permitted to override parental consent for a process that has four times the risk of surgical abortion.”
Heartbeat is the largest pregnancy help network in the U.S.
“Chemical abortions take place in perceived safe places such as bedrooms and bathrooms,” noted Brown. “Because this method requires the woman to initiate her own abortion, she must deal with her pain and the pregnancy expulsion alone.”
Regardless of where anyone stands on the issue of abortion, I believe most parents wince at the thought of our children facing this decision alone, without us.
Democrat representatives in Virginia, though, seem to think parental permission requirements actually endanger children.
“Not every family is loving and supportive - not every family has the best interest of the child,” Democrat Senator Barbara Favola argued against the request for parental permission requirements. “There are cases where a child is raped by her father, her stepfather. There are cases where a family would evict ... their daughter because she became pregnant.”
Abortion advocates should know there is already a process in place to address such concerns: it’s called judicial bypass. A minor goes before a judge (it’s free), who will then determine if she is able to make an abortion decision without parental involvement.
In any scenario, the idea of abortion as a response to abuse should raise flags about how we protect victims and how we hold abusers accountable, especially in relation to minors.
“In cases of incest, abortion can be chosen by the perpetrator to cover up the incest, and the victim rarely is provided choices,” Brown told Pregnancy Help News.
But it’s not just “bad dads” who are having their parental rights removed in this area. It’s all of us.
As a caring parent, you may be inclined to think your minor daughter would communicate with you about her pregnancy, regardless of the law. We would all hope so, but our politicians owe us more than hopeful thinking; they owe us written inclusion in the amendment they penned.
Even now, with legal parental consent requirements in place, school officials in Virginia are under criminal investigation for arranging abortions for minors without parental consent.
Don’t assume a scenario where “those minors” didn’t have caring parents. Instead, imagine “those minors” as your daughter.
Imagine her face among the many Virginia minors who are safe with their own parents, but not safe with their boyfriends, or sex abusers, or other men.
Despite the lack of parental protections, the proposed amendment does protect those who would assist her in an abortion:
“The Commonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against any individual for aiding or assisting another individual in exercising such other individual's right to reproductive freedom with such other individual's voluntary consent.”
This could include any number of dangerous relationships, while keeping us - the ones who love our daughters most - out of the entire process.
“One in twenty women have a hemorrhage after consuming the abortion pill,” Brown said, “and there is an 81% increased risk of lifelong chronic mental health conditions following an abortion.”
“Separating the parent from the child in this life-changing and life-ending decision process only increases all risks,” said Brown. “A medical process with long-term physical, emotional, and psychological consequences should not exclude a parent.”
So, here’s the clarifying question we all need to answer:
“Do we think we are the best ones to parent our children through a pregnancy decision that carries these risks, or do we believe our children would do it better without us?”
Tweet This: Do we think we are best to parent our children through a pregnancy decision or do we believe our children would do it better without us?
I know I believe in us as parents.
With that answer in mind, let’s vote on November 4 and remind politicians that they hold office because of us – to represent us, to serve us, and to protect our children – but never to replace us.
On November 4, instead of voting ourselves out of our children’s lives, let’s reject any politician who will not stand with us. Let’s elect delegates who will choose us and our children’s safety over this dangerous amendment.
