Virginia lawmakers have approved a constitutional amendment that would protect reproductive rights in the Commonwealth. The proposed change-which passed by 64-34 in the House of Representatives on January 14, 2026 and on January 21-18 in the Senate two days later – will be presented to voters later this year.
“Residents of the Commonwealth of Virginia can no longer allow politicians to dominate their bodies and their personal decisions,” House Majority Leader Charniele Herring said during a committee debate before the final vote.
The Democratic-led Senate first approved the measure in January 2025. The House of Representatives followed suit a few weeks later. Virginia law requires an identical proposal adopted in two consecutive terms before a constitutional amendment can be submitted to voters.
Virginia currently allows abortion during the second trimester of pregnancy to about 27 to soften. Later abortions are allowed if the pregnancy is life-threatening. It is the only Southern state that has not introduced new abortion restrictions since the Supreme Court ruling Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Abigail Spanberger, the state’s Democratic governor-elect, made the protection of reproductive rights a focal point of her 2025 campaign. In a governor’s debate on October 9Spanberger accused her opponent of abortion Republican Winsome Earle-Sears, who wants to impose on Virginia the kind of extreme abortion restrictions passed in nearby states.
“Women have died,” she said of those laws.
Democrats prioritize civil rights
Virginia, a former Republican stronghold democratically run during the election of Barack Obama in 2008, a “purple” state. The Governor’s Mansion has changed party hands regularly over the past 30 years, and in 2017 the House of Representatives evenly distributed at 50-50.
In the 2025 election, Democrats won a historic 64 seats, virtually giving voters the option to enshrine reproductive rights in their state constitutions. In addition to codifying current abortion access laws, lawmakers are also expected to approve proposals permanently enshrining same-sex marriage and restoring voting rights to former inmates who have completed their felony sentences in the state constitution.
A fourth proposed constitutional amendment would allow Democrats to redraw the state’s congressional districts Add up to four blue seats in Virginia, possibly in time for the 2026 midterm elections.
If voters ultimately approve these measures at the ballot box, they would all become constitutional law in Virginia.
With a Democratic governor and a Democratic-majority Legislature, Virginia could also join the growing ranks of blue states passing “shield laws.” These laws protect providers from prosecution or civil penalties for prescribing medication abortion to patients in states with restrictions or bans.
(Read more: Patients in states with abortion bans are the largest users of abortion telemedicine)
Regional destination
“Virginians have been loud and clear about their support for reproductive freedom,” said Autumn Celeste, communications director for the Blue Ridge Abortion Fund, in a statement to RNG.
Abortion funds help patients find clinics and pay for their abortion care. Sometimes they also arrange child care and support patient care after the procedure. The Blue Ridge Abortion Fund serves both Virginians seeking abortion and a growing number of out-of-state patients traveling to Virginia for care.
After Roo When the country fell, Celeste said, most other Southern states quickly passed restrictive abortion laws.
Neighboring North Carolina now bans abortion after 12 weeks. Florida and Georgia both ban it after six weeks, with some exceptions. Tennessee has a total abortion ban with limited exceptions.
In 2024, people traveling from other states made up a quarter of all Blue Ridge Abortion Fund callers, up from 13 percent just before. Roo was thrown in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. North Carolina, Florida and Georgia topped the group’s patient list, Celeste said RNG end of 2025.
Other research supports this observation. According to figures, clinics in Virginia performed 6,600 more abortions in 2024 than in 2023. the Guttmacher Institutea research organization that aims to improve reproductive rights. The number of out-of-state patients increased by about 4,400. A policy advisor to Guttmacher mainly attributed that spike to Florida’s six-week abortion ban in May 2024.
“Enshrining the right to abortion care in our state is a necessary – and popular – step in the ongoing effort to protect reproductive freedom in Virginia, not just for today, but for generations to come,” Celeste said.
Editor’s note: This story is an updated and abridged version of a story originally published on October 20, 2025.
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