Virginia Democrats Want Abortion In The Constitution. 700,000 Catholics Could Stand In Their Way

While Virginia Democrats are pushing to enshrine abortion rights in the state’s constitution, thousands of Catholics have organized a massive opposition.

In January, Democratic Virginia state lawmakers advanced a constitutional amendment on abortion rights to appear on the November ballot, Virginia Mercury reported. While abortion is presently legal in Virginia up to 26 weeks and six days of pregnancy, the state’s constitution does not at present explicitly protect a right to abortion, 13NewsNow reported.

The proposed amendment asks 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 ballot measure is supported by Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger and Democratic Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones. However, some of the state’s roughly 693,000 registered Catholics from both of its two dioceses are urging voters to reject it ahead of Election Day, labeling it as “extreme.”

In a rare move, Catholic Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington issued a Sept. 12 letter urging Virginians to join the “Catholics Vote No” campaign, which opposes Ballot Questions 1 and 2. Ballot Question 2 would in part “remove a provision that states marriage is between one man and one woman.”

“[Ballot Question 1] threatens the health and safety of mothers and would allow for abortions targeting healthy babies all the way up to birth,” Burbidge’s letter claims. “The amendment extends this so-called right even to minors. It would remove the role of parents concerning life-altering and irreversible decisions for their minor daughters.“

“The proposed amendment is extreme. It is unnecessary. And it is wrong,” the letter continues.

In August, Burbidge and Bishop Barry Knestout of the Diocese of Richmond issued a joint letter claiming in part that Ballot Question 1 “would endanger women’s health and safety” if passed.

Burbidge also warned against supporting the two ballot measures during Mass at St. Leo the Great Catholic Church in Fairfax on Sept. 13, noting it was the first time he has asked for one of his letters to be read to parishioners “throughout the diocese.”