Virginia voters passed Question 1 on Tuesday, amending the state constitution to protect abortion through all three trimesters of pregnancy, including up until birth. The Associated Press projected the measure’s passage with 61.4 percent voting yes to 38.6 percent voting no, with 86 percent of votes counted.
The amendment, formally called the “Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment,” allows restrictions on abortion in the third trimester, but only if those restrictions include exceptions for the patient’s health or for cases where the pregnancy is not considered viable. Critics of the measure say that language is broad enough to permit abortion on demand throughout pregnancy, since the determination would be left to the discretion of the abortion provider.
The ballot question asked voters:
Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?
The measure was pushed by the group Virginians for Reproductive Freedom and reached the ballot after being passed twice by the state legislature, as Virginia’s constitution requires for amendments. Democrat state Sen. Jennifer Boysko and Democrat Del. Charniele Herring sponsored the legislation that put it before voters.
Abortion was already legal in Virginia up to 27 weeks of pregnancy before this vote. The new constitutional language locks that access in and extends it, while placing the amendment beyond the reach of ordinary legislation — it can now only be undone by another statewide ballot measure or a prolonged court fight.
Part of a National Pattern
Virginia joins a string of states that have added abortion protections to their constitutions since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. In 2022, California, Michigan, and Vermont voters approved similar amendments, while Montana voters rejected a measure that would have extended rights to babies born alive during attempted abortions, and Kentucky and Kansas voters rejected measures affirming no state constitutional right to abortion exists. Ohio voters added abortion protections to their constitution in November 2023.
That winning streak for abortion-rights measures broke in November 2024, when voters in Florida, South Dakota, and Nebraska rejected pro-abortion ballot measures even as seven other states approved them.
Abortion will be on the ballot again in 2026 in Nevada, Idaho, and Missouri.
