Here is what Virginia Democrats will not say out loud about Question 1: it writes parents out.
Their amendment hands a permanent constitutional abortion right to “every individual” — no age, no exception. Your thirteen-year-old is an “individual.” And there is no place in it for you.
Today, Virginia law requires a parent, guardian, or judge to be part of that decision for a minor. Question 1 doesn’t mention you at all. That is not an oversight. It is the goal.
This is the Democrats’ war on the family, written into our founding document. A parent’s right to protect their own child is the target. Question 1 is the next round.
Democrats put three constitutional amendments on your November 3 ballot this year. This month, the Fairfax GOP is giving you what you need to know about each one. This is Part One, on the abortion amendment — next week read Part Two on the marriage amendment and on Sept 3rd, read Part Three on the voting-rights amendment.
State Sen. Mark Peake (R-Lynchburg) caught it on the floor. “There’s no age mentioned in the constitutional amendment,” he warned, “so we’re very concerned that will do away with parental consent.”
Ask a supporter how a parent’s right to know survives a constitution that hands the right to “every individual” with no age attached. They don’t have an answer. They have a talking point.
Here is the exact question you will see in the booth:
“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?”
— Official ballot question, Virginia Department of Elections
Reads gently, doesn’t it. Prenatal care. Postpartum care. A third-trimester “limit.” That’s the point. The summary is dressed up to sound moderate. The amendment underneath is anything but — and it never once mentions a parent.
Right now, a late-term abortion in Virginia requires three physicians to certify a serious, lasting threat to the mother’s life or health, in a licensed hospital.
Question 1 throws that out. One doctor’s say-so on “mental health.” No hospital. No second opinion. And because it lives in the constitution, no future legislature can tighten it back.
Amy McInerny of our own Diocese of Arlington calls it “much more extreme than Roe v. Wade.” That is not a slogan. It is a reading of the text.
Pro-life leaders call the ballot wording “deliberately deceptive.” There are already lawsuits over how the question is put to voters.
When the fight is over whether the ballot even tells you the truth, read the amendment. Not the sales copy.
A bad statute can be fixed next session. A constitutional amendment takes two separate General Assemblies and another statewide vote to undo. Years, if ever.
Whatever is buried in this language, Virginia is stuck with it. That is not sloppy drafting. That is the plan.
Virginia Democrats did not dawdle. The House passed all four amendments on the first day of the session.
Since Dobbs, abortion on the ballot is the most reliable turnout machine they own. They built one for this fall, and your ballot is the fuel.
Your committee didn’t flinch. Even after the state party asked locals to stay neutral, the Fairfax County Republican Committee voted 91 to 1 to oppose this amendment. Fairfax got there before Richmond did.
The Diocese of Arlington is urging a No vote through its Catholics Vote No campaign.
A permanent abortion right with no age limit, one doctor where it used to take three, and not one word for the parents of a minor child. That is not healthcare. It is the family unit written out of Virginia’s constitution. Vote No on Question 1.