Article By Ryan Foley
Virginia Democrats have complete control of the state government for the first time since 2021, now that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term has ended and Democrat Abigail Spanberger has taken over as governor.
In last year’s elections, Virginia Democrats won 64 out of 100 seats in the House of Delegates. Seats in the Virginia Senate were last up for election in 2023, when Democrats won 21 of 40 seats.
Democrats have moved to advance an unabashedly progressive agenda with lightning speed, although voters will have the final say on most of the legislation passed so far. Here are four proposed constitutional amendments approved by the Virginia Legislature that voters will weigh in on later this year.
House Joint Resolution 1 was approved by the Virginia House of Delegates in a 64-34 vote on Jan. 14 and a 21-18 vote on Jan. 16. The vote fell along party lines, with all support coming from Democrats and all opposition coming from Republicans.
The measure would establish a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” in the Bill of Rights of the Virginia Constitution, clarifying that “every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions related 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,” the proposed amendment states.
While the proposal permits the state to “regulate the provision of abortion care in the third trimester,” it requires the allowance of late-term abortions in cases where a physician has determined that they are necessary to “protect the life or physical or mental health” of a pregnant woman or that “the fetus is not viable.”
Now that Virginia legislators have approved the proposed constitutional amendment in two consecutive legislative sessions, it will go before voters this fall.
The Virginia House of Delegates passed House Joint Resolution 3 in a 67-31 vote on Jan. 14, while the Virginia Senate approved it in a 26-13 vote on Jan. 16. The measure achieved some degree of bipartisan support, with all House Democrats and three House Republicans voting in favor of it along with all Senate Democrats and five Senate Republicans.
The measure removes the unenforced definition of marriage in the Virginia Bill of Rights, identifying it as “only a union between one man and one woman,” replacing it with language describing marriage as “one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness.” It prohibits the state and its political subdivisions from denying “the issuance of a marriage license to two adult persons seeking a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such persons.”
The proposed constitutional amendment also requires the state and its subdivisions to “recognize any lawful marriage between two adult persons and treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons.” Same-sex marriages are already legal and recognized in Virginia after the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision struck down all state bans on same-sex marriage.
The proposed constitutional amendment has been approved by Virginia legislators in two consecutive legislative sessions, paving the way for it to go before voters on the ballot this fall.
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