The Commonwealth of Virginia will make a pivotal choice this fall - to either save lives or destroy them. Not through a single grand gesture, but through the quiet persistence of thousands willing to act on their convictions when it matters most.
If you are a Virginia citizen, future generations of Virginians need you - and they need your vote.
You won’t see the word “abortion” on the ballot in November, nor even the term “reproductive rights.” But life will be on the ballot.
The candidates we Virginians elect this November will land right in the middle of a voting process already in progress to amend our state constitution with a “right to abortion.”
There are three key steps in the process.
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Earlier this year, the proposed amendment was approved by both houses of the Virginia General Assembly, clearing the first step.
After the elections this fall, a second vote will come before the newly comprised General Assembly in January.
If the amendment is approved by both houses, it will then go before Virginia voters for a final statewide vote in November 2026.
The amendment proposes adding this “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” to Virginia’s Bill of Rights:
“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.
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.”
You can read the full resolution here.
Here’s how things stand heading into this November’s elections:
During the first vote earlier this year, Virginia state senators approved the amendment by a slim margin of 21 to 19. State senators aren’t up for election this year; the same senators who voted in January 2025 will vote again in January 2026. It’s reasonable to expect the same outcome.
But that’s not the case in the House of Delegates.
All 100 seats are up for election this fall. The first vote narrowly passed 51-48 in the House of Delegates. In November, Virginians will elect the delegates who will vote on the amendment the second time.
No matter where you live in Virginia, the delegate your district elects will vote on this right to abortion amendment. All it takes is a simple majority vote in the House of Delegates - against the amendment - and this amendment will be stopped.
Enshrining the right to abortion in Virginia’s constitution is a big deal, and one that cannot be easily undone.
The expansive nature of the amendment - through the language excluded from the proposal - is all the more concerning.
For instance, where is the language requiring parental permission before a minor can get an abortion?
Prior to the first vote earlier this year, Republican delegates pushed for language including this safeguard, but Democrat delegates chose to exclude such language.
Also vague is the restriction on exactly when and under what circumstances an abortion will not be allowed.
Can a woman with a healthy pregnancy get an abortion up to week 36? How about week 39?
Language about what the state "may" do in the third trimester leaves space for much interpretation if the amendment becomes part of Virginia’s constitution.
The delegates we elect in November will be charged with voting in January on whether or not to advance the proposed amendment – as it is written.
Making benign assumptions about language that was excluded is not just naive, it’s dangerous.
This is where your power - and your vote - comes in.
While you cannot choose how the delegates vote in January, you can choose who gets to vote.
If you’re considering an incumbent delegate, check their voting record here.
Every sitting candidate has already shown us how they will vote - there is no reason to expect them to change their vote the second time around.
If you are considering a new candidate, check their campaign language.
The best hope that they will protect unborn lives with their vote in January is if they will protect them with their words now. You can see the full list of candidates, here.
But there’s also another way to predict how a candidate will vote once elected.
The first full General Assembly vote fell completely along party lines. In the House of Delegates, all 51 votes in favor of the proposed amendment came from Democrats and all 48 votes against the amendment came from Republicans. State senators voted along party lines as well.
This issue is a divisive one and - in the Virginia General Assembly - the dividing line is the one that separates Democrats from Republicans. There is no ambiguity when you look at the voting record.
If you are planning to vote for a Virginia Democrat this fall, do your research. If the vote earlier this year is predictive of January’s vote, there is no middle ground - no option that will allow us to genuinely vote both Democrat and pro-life.
We who hold Democrat ideals will have to prioritize our priorities and choose what matters more: our love for our party or our refusal to participate in the death of even more unborn lives in Virginia. There isn’t confusion about this: this amendment is on the table and moving forward because we have Democrat majorities in both houses of the General Assembly.
I know it creates an internal conflict - to vote for a Republican candidate when you’re a Democrat at heart. It doesn’t have to be a permanent move, but there are times when our priorities collide so much that we have to do something different - like when others’ lives are at stake. If we want politicians to take our values to heart, we can’t continue voting in candidates who directly violate our deeply held regard for life.
Unlike some past elections, where pro-life values were more about the candidates’ character than their policies, this time there is a clear action on the table. The delegates we elect will cast a decisive vote in January.
Tweet This: You won’t see the word “abortion” on the Virginia ballot in November, nor the term “reproductive rights.” But life will be on the ballot.
Abortion is already on the rise in Virginia - even without the expansion of the proposed amendment. In 2024, Virginia saw the largest increase of in-clinic abortions of any state in the country.
Women from other states actually travel to our Commonwealth to get their abortions.
Abortions are so accessible here that Virginia has earned the designation, “abortion capital of the south” - we’re where unborn babies are brought to die.
Yet even this is not enough for pro-abortion representatives in Virginia.
On its face, this amendment is dangerous for unborn babies, girls, and women, but its full effect could further harm women and babies by also threatening pregnancy help medical clinics.
“If this amendment passes,” Ryan Holloway, president of Virginia Coalition of Pregnancy Centers told Pregnancy Help News, “pregnancy centers like ours could be seen as ‘infringing, burdening, or denying’ on these rights simply because we don’t offer abortions.”
“Legal experts believe this could open the door to devastating lawsuits or new regulations that would make it nearly impossible for us to continue serving the women who need us most,” said Holloway. “This is a direct threat to our ability to exist.”
But there is a way you can end this threat: by electing candidates who will vote no to the amendment.
Please note these important Virginia dates and commit to voting:
- Deadline to register to vote or update your registration: October 24, 2025
- Dates for in-person, early voting: September 19, 2025 through November 1, 2025
- Election Day: November 4, 2025.
While Democrats in the General Assembly are trying to make abortion a fundamental right, we must remember that there is no more fundamental right than the right to life.
And we can’t have both. The two rights will never be able to genuinely exist together.
Protecting life looks like a lot of different things: giving to a local pregnancy clinic, helping moms, praying – all the ways we protect and provide for babies and families.
On November 4, though, it will look like one thing in Virginia: voting.
Holloway told Pregnancy Help News he is urging Virginian voters to imagine “a future where life is protected, where [pregnancy help medical] centers like ours thrive, and where the next generation of children live because you stood up and said, ‘Not on our watch.’”
The candidates we elect will have the power of life or death in their hands come January. But first, the power will be in our hands.
As voters who value the lives of both the born and the unborn, we hold incredible power - and an unmistakable responsibility - to use our votes to keep Virginia from becoming even more dangerous for women, girls, and babies.
Future Virginians will inherit the Virginia we all vote for this November. Together, we can act on our convictions and leave an inheritance that protects life.
