Overview
- The General Assembly approved the amendment in back-to-back sessions, with votes of 64–34 in the House and 21–18 in the Senate along strict party lines.
- The text would add a fundamental right to reproductive freedom covering decisions related to prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.
- The measure allows regulation of third‑trimester abortion care but bars bans when a physician determines it is necessary to protect the patient’s life or physical or mental health, or when the fetus is not viable.
- Catholic Bishops Michael Burbidge and Barry Knestout announced opposition and said they will work to educate voters against the amendment.
- Polling from early 2025 showed roughly 61–62% support for adding abortion rights to the state constitution, and passage would make Virginia the 11th state to enshrine such protections since Dobbs.