Why Enshrine Abortion In Virginia?

Abortion is already legal in Virginia. But leftists are not satisfied.

Chris J. Krisinger | October 14, 2026

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........

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