Virginia House Passes 'Most Extreme' Measure to Enshrine Abortion in Constitution

Virginia House Democrats have passed a newly proposed constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion as a right in the state constitution and allow for the lives of unborn babies to be taken during the third trimester, in a number of cases. 

Under the current law, abortions are legal through the second trimester. However, the new measure, titled House Joint Resolution 1 or HJ1, would create a "fundamental right" to get an abortion and would protect anyone who helps them do so. 

It would also allow abortion in the third trimester to "protect the life or physical or mental health" of the mother.

Currently, under Virginia law, abortions are legal through the second trimester and require the certification of three physicians, in the third trimester, in the case where the pregnancy is thought to put the life of the mother at risk or would cause substantial harm. 

However, the new permanent constitutional amendment would bring down the required number of doctors needed to certify an abortion from three to one. 

The measure squeaked through the House of Delegates 51-48, on a party-line vote. Republicans voted against it warning that the bill allows for "abortion up to 40 weeks with no meaningful restrictions" and called it the "most extreme abortion amendment in the nation."

"It doesn't embody Roe v. Wade in the least," House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said. "In fact, it goes well beyond all of that to become the most extreme abortion measure in the nation and possibly the civilized world."

"This is the most extreme law in the South," said Delegate Timothy Griffin (R-Bedford). "It puts us way far to the left of the Carolinas, of Florida, Georgia, and every other Southern state."

Republican lawmakers were also concerned the amendment could supersede a Virginia law that requires parental consent for an abortion for anyone under 18.

"I am required to be present for every single one of my children's doctor appointments today. For everything as mundane as a cold, to annual routine physicals to play in school sports, but this amendment would allow my daughter and countless others to make a decision that could change the course of her life without ever consulting me," said Delegate Carrie Coyner.

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Virginia House Democrats say they have been pushing the measure for years and are doing it to combat "extreme abortion bans" in other states. 

"Extreme is forcing a 10-year victim of rape to carry her rapist's child to term. Extreme is forcing a woman to carry a fetus inside of them that is gone," Delegate Candi Mundon King (D-Prince William) said.

SBA Pro-Life America responded to the vote, writing that the state's six-month limit on abortion is not enough for Democrats. 

"Virginia already allows abortion in the sixth month of pregnancy, but that isn't enough for Democrats," said SBA Pro-Life America Regional Political Director Caitlin Connors.

"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," she continued. "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 pro-life group pointed out that the upcoming budget proposal from Virginia's Republican Governor, Glenn Youngkin, includes measures to help mothers and protect more unborn children. 

"His budget would stop state funding of abortions of babies with disability diagnoses and provide more than $4 million for pilot programs to improve maternal health, more OB-GYN residencies, and expansion of doula and midwife support," the group shared in a press statement. 

The House's approval of HJ1 is just the first step. The legislation must be approved in the state legislature twice, with an election taking place in between those votes.

It will then be placed on the state referendum where Virginia voters would decide.