Virginia Government

Virginia voters will decide reproductive rights' future four years after Roe

VPM | By Jahd Khalil,

Adrienne Hoar McGibbon

Published August 11, 2026 at 11:14 AM EDT

In 2026, Virginians are voting on whether to make three changes to the state's constitution. Voters will decide the future of felon voting rights, marriage equality and reproductive rights in the commonwealth.

VPM News' State Politics Reporter Jahd Khalil is speaking to advocates who support and oppose each of the constitutional amendments to help you better understand the proposed changes.

You can hear the arguments for and against each of the amendments in the VPM News digital-first video series "Amending Virginia." In Episode 2, we're talking about reproductive rights.

Click the video player above to watch the second episode of Amending Virginia, or check it out on VPM's YouTube channel.

As Virginians vote this fall on whether to put enshrine protections for abortion and other reproductive healthcare at the highest level — the state constitution — advocates on either side are presenting familiar, and newer, arguments on the issue.

The amendment would give Virginians a "fundamental right to reproductive freedom" encompassing "prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care." It also reduces barriers to third-trimester abortions and shields medical care providers from criminal liability.

Virginia is the only state in the American South that hasn't banned abortion or restricted access to the procedure since the US Supreme Court undid Roe v. Wade in 2022; state law permits abortion in the first and second trimesters. Third-trimester abortions are prohibited, barring some rare exceptions.

"Virginia actually hasn't enacted any legislative change to access to abortion since Dobbs," said Caroline Legros, director of civics education at the Virginia Museum of History and Culture, referring to the ruling that upended decades of federal protections for abortion access.

It's made the commonwealth a destination for people who wish to terminate their pregnancies. In 2025, 8,570 people traveled from out of state for abortions in Virginia, according to research by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit supporting abortion rights.

A divided General Assembly at the time of the Dobbs decision meant that the commonwealth's lawmakers could neither roll back or expand abortion access. But after back-to-back Democratic majorities in the 2023 and 2025 elections, lawmakers approved the text in two legislative sessions, sending it to voters statewide.

"This constitutional amendment that's being proposed represents the most legislative and forward progress from either side of the aisle on this issue," said Legros.

Those pushing for abortion access say the possibility of facing new restrictions every time the statehouse changes political hands is not worth the risk. Those who have campaigned against abortion say they're worried the amendment would constrain the state from meaningfully regulating health and safety concerns.

Sara Sanatkar, field and canvass manager with Repro Rising, said Virginians want access to the freedom to make reproductive healthcare decisions without government interference.

"Passing this constitutional amendment would provide this some sense of calmness for voters in Virginia, where every November they don't have to be anxious about whether next session they're going to lose these rights or not," said Sanatkar.

"This would, on a constitutional level, make sure that no matter who is in the legislative body, they cannot just come in and interfere in your personal healthcare decisions."

Sanatkar, an immigrant from Iran, spoke to VPM News from her grandparents' home in Virginia Beach. Family photos lined the walls, kitsch-filled cabinets and a fruit plate sat on the table.

"This is the first home that we moved into as a family with my mom and my brother. So, it's very symbolic,like the first safe space that I was able to step into upon moving here," she said. "In a country like Iran, it is beautiful. It is my home, but you also don't have freedoms, especially as a woman."

Soon after Sanatkar moved to Virginia, she said she began knocking doors and volunteering for candidates favoring the expansion of reproductive care — and activism on the issue has further broadened in recent years.

"When this fight started, it didn't just start and end with abortion," she said. "Is it too broad for Virginians to want to have access to birth control? Is it too broad for people to want to be able to access the fertility care that they need? Is it too broad for them to want to have access to abortion rights if they need one? Is it too broad? I would say, 'No.'"

Virginia is the only Southern state that hasn't banned or restricted abortion access post-Roe.

Amy McInerny has also spent decades working on the issue. Currently, she is the director of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington's Office of Marriage, Family and Respect Life.

"We deal with all the issues that the modern family deals with and try to support and form families," she said, at a cafe connected to a church in Alexandria, with reproductions of modern-era Christian paintings on the wall.

"Virginians need to be aware that this is much more extreme than Roe v. Wade," she said.

"I am concerned that this amendment is going to throw women under the bus," said McInerny, pointing to health and safety laws passed by the legislature. "This opens the door to all of that going away because it impacts the General Assembly's ability to regulate, and I don't think most Virginians would be comfortable with that."

The amendment contains language which allows for the state to regulate abortion to maintain the health of patients as long as the regulations do not "infringe on that individual's autonomous decision making."

"I'm in favor of autonomous decision making, but what does it mean in the law? We don't know," she said. "There are so many vague, undefined terms in this resolution that I think Virginians should pause and look at it because there, I believe, will be unintended negative consequences flowing from enactment."

While McInerny comes from a faith organization, she said Virginians don't have to agree about abortion itself to come together to engage with her arguments.

"There has been rhetorical frenzy around these issues,' she said. "I think this is a moment to stop and for Virginians to take a breath and say, 'Let's let's look past the rhetorical and look and see what the law will really be and how it will shape the future of our commonwealth.'"

Virginia voters will decide reproductive rights' future four years after Roe

Read more VPM News about reproductive rights