Catholic Church Campaign Falls Short as Virginia Voters Approve Abortion Amendment

What the Amendment Provides

The ballot measure asks voters to add protections for personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management and fertility care to Virginia’s Constitution. It also seeks to bar legal action against health workers and patients over those decisions.

The measure allows restrictions on abortion access in the third trimester, with exceptions for the mother’s health or when the pregnancy would not survive. With 61 percent of votes counted and 61 percent supporting it, NBC News called the election, followed shortly by The New York Times.

Church Opposed the Proposal

The Catholic Church has opposed abortion as a grave moral evil for at least 1,900 years. Virginia’s Catholic dioceses made a direct campaign against this amendment, including a July letter shared by Richmond Bishop Barry C. Knestout.

The letter described the vote as a “grave moral choice,” and called the proposal “extreme” and “radical,” according to Knestout’s statement. It warned that the measure could leave parents out of decisions about a minor’s abortion, expose children to predators and human traffickers, deny medical care to babies who survive abortions, and permit unqualified personnel to assist with abortions.

Campaign Did Not Prevail

K nestout said the amendment was “not reproductive freedom” or “compassion,” and called it a grave injustice that would harm women in local communities. The campaign did not prevent approval of the measure. Decision Desk HQ reported that Prince William County and Loudoun County, described as Virginia’s most Catholic counties, had voted for the amendment by more than 40 points by publication time.