Virginia voters approved Amendment 1 on Tuesday, adding a “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” to the state constitution and loosening the rules for third-trimester abortions. The Associated Press called the race at 9:01 p.m., when the measure led 60.7% to 39.3% with about 63% of ballots counted.
Virginia already had the most permissive abortion law in the Southeast. Current law allows abortions up to 28 weeks of pregnancy, the start of the third trimester. After that point, two additional consulting physicians must agree that continuing the pregnancy “is likely to result in the death of the woman or substantially and irredeemably impair the mental or physical health of the woman.”
Amendment 1 changes that standard. Its text says a third-trimester abortion requires only “the professional judgement of a physician” and may be performed “to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.” That removes the current requirement for two additional doctors to approve the abortion.
Opponents also warned that the amendment’s broad “reproductive freedom” language could be used in lawsuits against medical safety laws governing abortion procedures, including rules requiring facilities to have lifesaving support for the mother and an unborn child born alive. A Nov. 13 hearing is scheduled on a request for a preliminary injunction to stop certification of the referendum results.
The vote shows how state constitutions remain a central battleground over the sanctity of life. The Guttmacher Institute reported nearly 40,000 abortions in Virginia in 2025, including about 8,400 performed on out-of-state residents. Abortions after 21 weeks make up about 1% of the 1.1 million abortions performed in the United States each year, but Amendment 1 places those late abortions under stronger constitutional protection in Virginia.
