Florida voters crushed a radical abortion amendment in 2024 and saved their state constitution.
Virginia's Catholic bishops are asking 700,000 believers to do the same thing this fall.
Two bishops told every priest in Virginia to say something at Mass that Democrats never saw coming.
Burbidge Ordered a Vote No Message on the Virginia Abortion Amendment Read at Every Mass
Bishop Michael Burbidge runs the Diocese of Arlington, the biggest Catholic diocese in Virginia.
He hosted a webinar for his priests.
His instructions were simple.
Read a message at every Mass on Sept. 12-13 telling Catholics to vote no on Ballot Question 1.
Then show up Sept. 15 for a holy hour at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More – no exceptions, no excuses.
Question 1 would write a "fundamental right" to abortion into Virginia's constitution.
Not just legal abortion. Abortion up to birth. For "every individual." Including minors.
Legislators had a chance to require care for babies born alive after a botched abortion.
They voted that down.
Burbidge and Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout didn't mince words in their Aug. 21 joint letter to Catholics across the state.
They branded it dangerous, radical, and something no faithful Catholic should tolerate at the ballot box.
Burbidge went further on his own podcast.
"This election is different – not because of candidates, but because of fundamental moral issues," he said.
Parents lose their say the moment this amendment passes.
Burbidge said the law strips fathers and mothers of the right to protect their own daughters.
Question 1 Would Strip Parents Out of Their Daughters Medical Decisions
Victoria Cobb runs the Family Foundation of Virginia, and she's been sounding this alarm for weeks.
"It would recreate the most radical abortion regime anywhere in the United States," Cobb said.
Virginia's Department of Elections confirms the amendment lets abortionists operate in the third trimester with almost no guardrails.
The only requirement is a doctor's own judgment.
That's it. That's the entire safety net.
Meanwhile, Question 2 sits right next to it on the same ballot.
That measure rips out Virginia's one-man-one-woman marriage language and replaces it with "two adult persons."
Burbidge and Knestout didn't hedge on that one either.
Marriage existed before any government wrote a law, the bishops argued, and no legislature gets to rewrite what God defined.
Democrats control the General Assembly, and they passed both amendments twice, exactly as Virginia law requires.
That means voters get the final word on Nov. 3.
Early voting starts Sept. 18.
A group of Virginia doctors and voters already sued over the ballot language itself, arguing the wording hides what Question 1 actually does.
Former Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears was forced to sign the resolution into law as Senate president.
She wrote a note above her own signature calling it morally wrong.
That's how radioactive this amendment is – even the officials required to process the paperwork wanted their objection on the record.
Virginia's 2026 Constitutional Amendments Already Have a 2006 Precedent
Virginians did this once already.
In 2006, voters approved the very marriage language Democrats want erased this fall – and they did it by a wide margin.
Nebraska and South Dakota pulled off something similar in 2024, rejecting abortion amendments that pro-abortion groups swore were unstoppable.
Students for Life Action president Kristan Hawkins said the pattern was unmistakable after those wins.
"We're celebrating those wins, but we'll be back," Hawkins said of the fight against similar amendments nationwide.
Voters reject these amendments once they learn what's actually buried in the fine print.
That's the entire strategy behind Burbidge and Knestout's push – get the truth into every pew before Election Day arrives.
If even a fraction of that flock shows up and votes no on both questions, Question 1 and Question 2 both die on Nov. 3.
The abortion industry and its allies have already lined up money and volunteers behind Question 1.
Burbidge isn't asking Catholics to sit this one out and pray from the couch.
He's asking every single one of them to walk into a polling place before Nov. 3 and vote no twice.
Sources:
- Robert B. Bluey, "Virginia Catholic Bishops Launch Coordinated Push Against 2 Constitutional Amendments," Daily Signal, Aug. 29, 2026.
- "Virginia Fights Off Push to Become Deep-Blue California on Abortion, Marriage," Washington Stand, Aug. 2026.
- "Virginia's Question 1 Would Allow Secret Abortions and Gender Mutilation on Teen Girls," LifeNews.com, Aug. 7, 2026.
- "Virginia Must Vote No on Question 1 to Stop Abortions Up to Birth," LifeNews.com, Aug. 18, 2026.
- Virginia Department of Elections, "Proposed Constitutional Amendment, Question 1," accessed Aug. 29, 2026.
- Students for Life Action, "Students for Life Action Celebrates the Defeat of Abortion Ballot Initiative in Florida, Nebraska, and South Dakota as Life WINS," Nov. 6, 2024.
