{"id":2608164,"date":"2026-05-29T08:07:00","date_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:07:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-democrats-are-back-in-court-for-using-deceptive-language-on-abortion-amendment\/"},"modified":"2026-05-29T08:07:00","modified_gmt":"2026-05-29T12:07:00","slug":"virginia-democrats-are-back-in-court-for-using-deceptive-language-on-abortion-amendment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/virginia-democrats-are-back-in-court-for-using-deceptive-language-on-abortion-amendment\/","title":{"rendered":"Virginia Dems In Court For Using Deceptive Language On Abortion Amendment"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvirginia-democrats-are-back-in-court-for-using-deceptive-language-on-abortion-amendment%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2608164&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Democrats in Virginia are on a losing streak. A failed attempt to illegally gerrymander, no state budget, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/new-poll-reveals-spanbergers-popularity-amid-backlash-gerrymandering\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">abysmal approval ratings<\/a>, and now, a <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5eecbc7b39d48008de082248\/t\/69f34cd335b19c7d32a22f54\/1777552595199\/AAPS+v+VBOE.PDF\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> challenging a Democrat-backed abortion amendment slated for a November vote has been filed in a county circuit court.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundingfreedomslaw.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Physicians and citizens<\/a> are challenging the so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HJ1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cRight to Reproductive Freedom Amendment\u201d<\/a> through a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foundingfreedomslaw.org\/news\/fflc-files-lawsuit-challenging-va-abortion-amendment\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">lawsuit<\/a> filed in Tazewell County Court, the same court that overturned Democrats\u2019 attempt to illegally gerrymander this spring. The plaintiffs, the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Virginia Medical Freedom Alliance, and Meagan Kade, a councilwoman from Bluefield, Va., cite manipulative language and procedural issues, requesting the court void the results of the special election.<\/p>\n<p>Considered one of the most extreme in the nation, the expansive amendment would effectively remove parental notification prior to a minor\u2019s abortion, allow unlicensed \u201cpersons\u201d to perform abortions without penalty, eliminate basic health and safety requirements at abortion facilities, and legalize abortion until birth in the Commonwealth.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/01\/20\/virginia-democrats-are-about-to-make-northams-baby-killing-comments-reality\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">priority passage<\/a> of the amendment alarmed pro-lifers in January, when it became a lead legislative effort under the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2025\/11\/10\/virginias-democrat-sweep-endangers-the-lives-of-millions-of-unborn-and-school-age-girls\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">newly elected<\/a> Democrat majority. Virginia law requires an amendment to pass in back-to-back legislative sessions to go to a ballot vote. After failing to block HJ1 in 2025, Republicans stood no chance against the two-chamber majority.<\/p>\n<p>Capitalizing on voter ignorance and vague language to distract from the amendment\u2019s breadth and scope, Democrats passed the amendment and crafted their question.<\/p>\n<p>The ballot measure asks whether the state\u2019s Constitution should be amended to \u201cprotect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care,\u201d \u201cprotect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions,\u201d and \u201callow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient\u2019s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The \u201cright to reproductive freedom\u201d is not defined; the language applies to an \u201cindividual,\u201d leaving minors unprotected and at risk of exploitation, and the question of who is protected under the amendment remains obscure, an issue that was never resolved on the House floor in 2025, said Mark Earley, an attorney and former Virginia delegate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEven though I would agree that it\u2019s deceptive, even more, it\u2019s incomplete,\u201d Earley said. \u201cThe amount of things changed and touched by the amendment are just not covered in the ballot language.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The question is misleading on several counts, implying that an amendment is necessary for women\u2019s health protection, presenting abortion as a neutral issue alongside prenatal, postpartum, and fertility care and childbirth, and minimizing unregulated abortion up to birth, said Olivia Gans Turner, Virginia Society for Human Life president. The term \u201chealth\u201d remains undefined and open to interpretation.<\/p>\n<h2>Fast-tracking Amendments<\/h2>\n<p>In April, Democrats, led by newly elected Gov. Abigail Spanberger, fast-tracked a vote on a Congressional map amendment to expand Democratic dominance across 10 of 11 districts and upend pro-life Congressional seats. After a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/04\/23\/national-republicans-dodge-questions-about-va-ground-game-as-locals-allege-none-of-them-spent-any-money\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">slim majority<\/a> voted it in, the amendment was blocked by a Tazewell County judge who found it illegal on several counts.<\/p>\n<p>Dems fought the ruling through a series of appeals, but failed to overturn it. The Tazewell ruling stands, upheld by the state\u2019s Supreme Court. The case made national headlines and showcased the extreme lengths politicians in Virginia will go to fulfill a partisan agenda.<\/p>\n<p>Using Tazewell\u2019s circuit court as an offensive starting point, opponents of the abortion amendment want a vote voided before November.<\/p>\n<p>The defense views the redistricting ruling as a positive precedent, proof that the Virginia Supreme Court is willing to invalidate a faulty constitutional amendment for failing procedural requirements, said Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation. The pro-life lawsuit is a \u201csimilar fight\u201d to the redistricting case, and a defining argument against deceptive ballot language.<\/p>\n<p>But Earley sees the case as an \u201cuphill battle.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Since the overturning of <em>Roe v. Wade<\/em>, the question of abortion has been on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kff.org\/womens-health-policy\/the-status-of-abortion-related-state-ballot-initiatives-since-dobbs\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">17 state ballots<\/a>, with expansive protections passed in seven of 10 states in 2024 alone. Virginia is one of several states currently considering or collecting signatures to codify an amendment.<\/p>\n<p>Publicity campaigns for ballot measures are high-dollar events. Abortion advocates, with big money backing, have succeeded in convincing the <a href=\"https:\/\/cnu.edu\/wason\/surveys\/archive\/2026-01-28.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">majority<\/a> of Virginians that unlimited and undefined \u201creproductive rights,\u201d should be voted in.<\/p>\n<p>Rather than waging war on the miseducation of voters, striking down the measure on legal grounds is a smart offensive. The Tazewell filing is the first, but likely not the last, to challenge the measure.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>   Ashley Bateman is a policy writer for The Heartland Institute. Her work has been featured in The Washington Times, The Daily Caller, The New York Post, The American Thinker, the Ascension Press blog, and numerous other publications. She previously worked as an adjunct scholar for The Lexington Institute and as editor, writer, and photographer for The Warner Weekly, a publication for the American military community in Bamberg, Germany. She and her brilliant engineer\/scientist husband homeschool their six children.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Democrats in Virginia are on a losing streak. A failed attempt to illegally gerrymander, no state budget, abysmal approval ratings, and now, a lawsuit challenging a Democrat-backed abortion amendment slated for a November vote has been filed in a county circuit court. Physicians and citizens are challenging the so-called \u201cRight to Reproductive Freedom Amendment\u201d through<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":638,"featured_media":2608165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screen-Shot-2026-05-28-at-9.37.06-PM-1024x592.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2608164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/Screen-Shot-2026-05-28-at-9.37.06-PM-1024x592.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608164","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/638"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2608164"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2608164\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2608165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2608164"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2608164"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2608164"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}