FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, June 23, 2025
Three Years After Dobbs, Virginia Fights to Secure Abortion Rights in Constitution
Richmond, Va. – Tuesday marks the third anniversary of Dobbs vs. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the Supreme Court decision that overturned Roe vs. Wade and upended fifty years of precedent protecting the autonomy of pregnant people. Since then, many state legislatures have enacted partial or total abortion bans, and many more have started enforcing existing state laws restricting abortion; at present, 41 states have enacted some form of a ban on abortion, and 13 states have banned abortion outright.
The results of these newly-enacted laws have had catastrophic consequences on the lives of people seeking abortion care. Patients like Amber Thurman have died needlessly when their care was denied or delayed; sepsis rates have soared in states with draconian abortion bans; doctors like Margaret Carpenter have been prosecuted across state lines for practicing medicine; heartbreaking, dystopian stories like the case of Adriana Smith in Georgia fill our headlines. State anti-abortion laws have created systems of draconian digital surveillance and worsened access to contraception. Maternal and infant mortality rates have risen, and abortion rates have gone up significantly since Roe was overturned.
Virginia remains the last state in the South without an early abortion ban, but the current administration and members of the General Assembly have signaled their willingness to further restrict reproductive freedom in the Commonwealth. This year alone, Governor Youngkin vetoed the Right to Contraception Act passed by the General Assembly, several bills were introduced to serve as far-right dogwhistles for opponents of abortion, and Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who cannot vote on any constitutional amendment, nevertheless signalled her opposition to legislation protecting reproductive freedom at the conclusion of this year’s session.
That’s why amending Virginia’s constitution to guarantee reproductive freedom is such a critical protection for all Virginians who must now rely on state-level protections for their bodily autonomy. This year, the General Assembly passed a resolution to amend the Virginia Constitution to establish a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, the first step in a two-year process to protect Virginians’ right to make decisions regarding their own reproductive health care without government interference.
Virginia’s legislative referral process for constitutional amendments requires the resolution to pass the General Assembly again in 2026, before ultimately appearing on the ballot for Virginia voters to approve themselves in November 2026. Passage of this amendment will put reproductive freedom out of reach of individual governors, parties, or partisan actors and guarantee that decisions about care will be left up to patients, families and providers, where they belong.
“Since the Dobbs decision stripped away federal protections for abortion, we’ve witnessed the devastating impact on Black, Brown, and working communities: rising maternal mortality, criminalized care, and diminished autonomy,” said Kenda Sutton-El, Executive Director of Birth in Color, a member of Virginians for Reproductive Freedom. “Enshrining reproductive freedom in Virginia’s Constitution is a vital step toward justice, ensuring that our communities can make decisions about their bodies and futures without political interference. The vast majority of Virginians are committed to keeping the government out of our doctors’ offices and making sure that decisions about birth, birth control, fertility treatments, and abortion are left up to pregnant people and their medical providers. We plan to make our voices heard loud and clear at the ballot box in November 2026.”
Background:
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Virginians for Reproductive Freedom
American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists – Virginia
Birth in Color
Equality Virginia
Freedom Virginia
Hamkae Center
League of Women Voters – Virginia
National Council of Jewish Women – Virginia
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice – Virginia
National Women’s Political Caucus – Virginia
Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia
Progress Virginia
REPRO Rising Virginia
Whole Woman’s Health Alliance
A Woman’s Choice
Virginia Reproductive Equity Alliance
Feminist Generation Virginia