In January 2019, Delegate Kathy Tran admitted her bill would allow an abortion while a mother was dilating.
That bill died in Richmond, and Governor Abigail Spanberger has now sent its core idea to voters as Amendment 1 – Question 1 on the ballot.
And more than 200 Virginia pastors have signed a letter warning what that amendment really means.
More Than 200 Virginia Pastors Urge a No Vote on Question 1 and Question 2
The letter went public on the weekend of September 26–27, with 25 lead signatures.
Within days, the list topped 200, largely from Baptist and Presbyterian churches.
Ryan Helfenbein of Thomas Road Baptist Church in Lynchburg signed it.
So did Benjamin Purves of Occoquan Bible Church in Woodbridge.
"We think it is important for pastors to speak with one voice to the state of Virginia. We've given our lives to care for communities in Virginia," Purves told The Daily Signal.
The letter doesn't hedge.
"Abortion is the killing of a pre-born child in the womb. It is moral distortion to present this violation of the sixth commandment as a moral good or as a fundamental right," the pastors wrote.
They also urged a no vote on Question 2, which would strip Virginia's constitutional definition of marriage as one man and one woman.
And they closed with grace, not condemnation.
"There is redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking God's mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ," the letter says.
Kathy Tran's 2019 Late-Term Abortion Bill Lives On in Virginia Question 1
At a 2019 House subcommittee hearing, Republican Delegate Todd Gilbert asked Tran whether her bill would allow an abortion when a woman was already dilating.
"My bill would allow that, yes," Tran answered.
Days later, Gov. Ralph Northam went on the radio and made it worse.
"The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired, and then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother," Northam said.
Republicans killed the bill in subcommittee, and the national outrage kept it dead.
One of its key changes would have cut the doctors needed to approve a third-trimester abortion from three to one.
Amendment 1 goes around the three-doctor rule entirely.
It says "in no circumstance shall the Commonwealth prohibit an abortion" that "in the professional judgment of a physician is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual."
One physician.
Mental health.
No limit on how late.
Virginia Question 1 Says Every Individual and Never Mentions Parental Consent
The amendment declares that "every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom."
Every individual – with no age attached.
The Family Foundation of Virginia warns that language would "eliminate the right of parents to know about or consent to their young child's invasive abortion surgery."
The amendment also bars the state from punishing anyone "aiding or assisting" another person in exercising that right.
Spanberger signed the bills sending it to the ballot on February 6, saying women "deserve the freedom to make their own reproductive healthcare decisions without politicians dictating their choices."
Under the amendment she sent to voters, one physician does the dictating instead.
Early voting in Virginia opened September 18.
Victoria Cobb, president of the Family Foundation, said Virginia already recorded about 38,000 abortions in a single year.
"That's basically for every four children that are born, we are taking the life of one," Cobb told The Washington Stand's Outstanding podcast.
Ohio's Abortion Amendment Struck Down the Heartbeat Law in Under a Year
Ohio voters passed their abortion amendment in November 2023 with nearly 57% of the vote.
On October 24, 2024, Hamilton County Judge Christian Jenkins used it to strike down the state's heartbeat law.
It took one ballot vote and one judge to erase a law the legislature had passed.
Virginia's version carries the same kind of one-doctor health exception into the third trimester, and it names mental health outright.
Virginia Pastors Are Standing Where Richmond Republicans Stood in 2019
In 2019, voters could fire any delegate who backed Tran's bill.
Once Amendment 1 is in the constitution, the General Assembly can't restore the three-doctor rule without another amendment, a process that takes two legislative sessions and a statewide vote.
That's why these pastors stepped out from behind the pulpit and into the public square.
"As citizens of Virginia, we are under moral obligation to vote for the good of our Commonwealth," they wrote.
Their answer on Question 1 is a clear no, and Virginians have until Election Day, November 3, to cast it.
Sources:
- Quinn Delamater, "Virginia Pastors: Vote No on Radical Abortion Amendment," LifeNews, September 29, 2026.
- Robert B. Bluey, "The Letter Virginia Pastors Want Every Voter to Read Before Nov. 3," The Daily Signal, September 27, 2026.
- Rich Tucker, "Virginia Pastoral Letter Gains Momentum Against Amendments," The Daily Signal, September 29, 2026.
- Virginia Department of Elections, "Proposed Constitutional Amendment Question 1," Virginia Department of Elections, 2026.
- Kathryn Watson, "Virginia Governor Under Fire for Comments on Late-Term Abortion Bill," CBS News, January 31, 2019.
- The Family Foundation, "Virginia Question 1 (2026): The Abortion Amendment," The Family Foundation, 2026.
- Charlotte Rene Woods, "Spanberger Signs Bills to Send Constitutional Amendments to Voters This Year," Virginia Mercury, February 6, 2026.
- Kevin Koeninger, "Ohio Heartbeat Abortion Law Struck Down by State Court," Courthouse News Service, October 24, 2024.
