{"id":2663145,"date":"2026-09-17T08:08:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:08:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignamendments-would-put-surrogacy-transgenderism-and-abortion-up-to-birth-in-virginia-constitution\/"},"modified":"2026-09-17T08:15:29","modified_gmt":"2026-09-17T12:15:29","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignamendments-would-put-surrogacy-transgenderism-and-abortion-up-to-birth-in-virginia-constitution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignamendments-would-put-surrogacy-transgenderism-and-abortion-up-to-birth-in-virginia-constitution\/","title":{"rendered":"Amendments Would Put Transgenderism, Abortion In VA Constitution"},"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\">16<\/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%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaignamendments-would-put-surrogacy-transgenderism-and-abortion-up-to-birth-in-virginia-constitution%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=2663145&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>On September 18, Virginia begins early voting for the November 3 election, which includes significant amendments sponsored by Northern Virginia Democrats. the Virginia Right to Reproductive freedom Amendment aims to enshrine unrestricted abortion rights into the state constitution, allowing abortion for any reason up untill birth and reducing parental oversight for minors. This amendment also <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >potentially legalizes unlicensed abortion providers<\/a> and promotes surrogacy and IVF industries with limited regulation.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment seeks to eliminate the current ban on same-sex marriage, recognizing marriage as a fundamental right for all adults regardless of sex, gender, or race. This proposed change also removes protections for religious liberty, potentially leading to discrimination against religious organizations. It additionally endorses gender ideology by recognizing transgender identities.<\/p>\n<p>Critics argue these amendments are language manipulations that prioritize radical social agendas over fundamental rights to life, religious freedom, and customary family structures. They highlight concerns about extreme abortion rights that could <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/we-are-the-arbiters-soros-prosecutor-says-he-wont-enforce-abortion-laws-if-roe-is-overturned\/\" title=\"\u2018We Are the Arbiters...: Soros Prosecutor Says He Won...t Enforce ... Laws If Roe Is Overturned\">permit late-term abortions<\/a>, as well as the undermining of religious protections and the potential expansion of surrogacy practices. the amendments reflect a push for a radical cultural shift, disregarding the welfare of children and religious freedoms in favor of expanding government and societal control over individual rights.  <\/p>\n<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>This Friday, Sept. 18, Virginia will begin early voting for the Nov. 3 election, which for residents is not only about the midterms, but also about two amendments, both introduced and sponsored by Northern Virginia Democrats. The Virginia Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment, an extremist abortion-until-birth measure,  and the Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment are grim reminders that, for the left, there is no \u201cmoderation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger ran, infamously, as a moderate candidate \u2014 and she <a href=\"https:\/\/www.wtvr.com\/news\/local-news\/virginia-pride-inaugural-parade-jan-16-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">supports<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/virginiamercury.com\/2026\/02\/06\/spanberger-signs-bills-to-send-constitutional-amendments-to-voters-this-year\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">both<\/a> proposed amendments. It\u2019s further proof that when given the opportunity to radically broaden access to aborting babies, restricting religious freedom, or exploiting children through surrogacy, Democrats will take it. <\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Most Radically Extreme <\/strong>\u2018<strong>Reproductive Freedom\u2019 Amendment<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>Virginia\u2019s so-called \u201creproductive rights\u201d amendment, <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/static\/bill-details\/20261\/HB781\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">introduced<\/a> by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring, D-Alexandria, and <a href=\"https:\/\/jenniferboysko.com\/priorities\/affordable-high-quality-healthcare\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sponsored<\/a> in the Senate by Democrat Jennifer Boysko, seeks to insert unrestricted abortion directly into Virginia\u2019s Constitution. \u201cWe\u2019re one step closer to protecting the entire continuum of reproductive health care in Virginia, from contraception to miscarriage care as well as IVF,\u201d Herring <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/11\/13\/virginia-amendment-voting-abortion-marriage\/\">told The <\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/dc-md-va\/2024\/11\/13\/virginia-amendment-voting-abortion-marriage\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Washington Post<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Specifically, the amendment <a href=\"https:\/\/catholicsvoteno.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">would unleash abortion<\/a> in the state by adding a new section 11-A to Article I of the Virginia Constitution declaring that \u201cevery individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom.\u201d The  constitutional language frames the changes in terms of so-called \u201ccare\u201d: \u201cprenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In fact, <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20261\/HB781\/text\/CHAP0002\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">it would allow<\/a> unregulated abortion, even for healthy babies<em> \u2014 for any reason<\/em>. It would reduce parental oversight, effectively restricting parents\u2019 ability to intervene in irreversible decisions for underage daughters. And, in its language that the \u201ccommonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual\u201d for killing unborn babies \u201cor for aiding or assisting another individual in the exercise of such right,\u201d it <a href=\"https:\/\/aul.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Constitutional-Peril-in-Virginia_AUL-Policy-Paper.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">effectively permits<\/a> non-physicians to operate unlicensed abortion establishments. <\/p>\n<p>This is because it could make Virginia\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/law.lis.virginia.gov\/vacodefull\/title18.2\/chapter4\/article9\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">existing laws<\/a> against unlicensed abortionists constitutionally unenforceable, because the proposed amendment protects both persons obtaining an abortion and anyone who \u201caids\u201d them. As The Federalist <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/29\/virginia-democrats-are-back-in-court-for-using-deceptive-language-on-abortion-amendment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">has noted<\/a>, the amendment and its deceptive language would usher in one of the most extreme pro-abortion state regimes in the country.<\/p>\n<p>The expansive \u201ccare\u201d clause also constitutionalizes a kind of laissez-faire anarchy for surrogacy and Big IVF, an industry already <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/12\/weve-reached-the-infanticide-stage-of-commercial-surrogacy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">rife<\/a> with abuses and moral evils.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>A Means to Attack Religious Liberty and Promote Surrogacy<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>The Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment, <a href=\"https:\/\/ballotpedia.org\/Virginia_Question_2,_Remove_Constitutional_Same-Sex_Marriage_Ban_Amendment_(2026)\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">introduced<\/a> by former Del. Mark Sickles, D-Fairfax, and <a href=\"https:\/\/legiscan.com\/VA\/bill\/SB311\/2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sponsored<\/a> in the Senate by former Sen. Adam Ebbin, D-Alexandria, parallels the abortion amendment in its radicalism. The amendment\u2019s supporters <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arlnow.com\/press-releases\/virginia-lawmakers-advance-marriage-equality-amendment-to-the-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">claim<\/a> that the commonwealth\u2019s current constitutional prohibition against same-sex unions \u2014 approved by Virginia voters a mere 20 years ago \u2014 is both anomalous and dangerous. <\/p>\n<p>They argue that the 2015 Supreme Court decision <em>Obergefell v. Hodges<\/em> could potentially be overturned by the highest court and, as happened with abortion via the 2022 decision <em>Dobbs v. Jackson Women\u2019s Health Organization<\/em>, be thrust back upon the states. Indeed, Justice Clarence Thomas at the time did suggest that the court should reconsider other substantive-due-process precedents, including <em>Obergefell<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>The proposed amendment would make the following changes to Article I, Section 15-A of the Virginia Constitution: delete the existing one-man\/one-woman definition of marriage; assert that \u201cmarriage is one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness;\u201d mandate that Virginia and its political subdivisions issue marriage licenses to two adults regardless of \u201csex, gender, or race;\u201d and require state recognition of \u201cany lawful marriage between two adult persons.\u201d Note that this language would actually codify radical gender ideology by differentiating \u201csex\u201d and \u201cgender,\u201d thus effectively recognizing transgenderism as legitimate.<\/p>\n<p>The amendment would also deny rights of conscience and religious liberty safeguards, because even though the original amendment <a href=\"https:\/\/lis.virginia.gov\/bill-details\/20251\/HJ9\/text\/HJ9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">contained<\/a> a provision protecting religious organizations and clergy from being required to perform or recognize marriages, Democrats excised that language from the final 2026 version. This thus opens the door for religious organizations and clergy to be sued or prosecuted by the state for refusing to officiate or acknowledge these ceremonies. Moreover, by extension, the amendment would reinforce a legal framework in which commercial surrogacy becomes a regular means of family formation for homosexual couples.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>The Deadly Irony of Language<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p>What is particularly contemptible about these two amendments is their cynical co-opting of the language of our founding to promote evil. The \u201creproductive freedom amendment\u201d is conversant in the language of rights and freedom, but entirely elides the rights of the<em> living being in the womb<\/em> to survive. <\/p>\n<p>Regardless of your position on whether abortion should ever be permitted, the Virginia amendment is the epitome of extreme, allowing viable babies to be killed right up to birth. Indeed, a baby can be aborted not only if he or she is purportedly unviable, but for the sake of \u201cprotect[ing] the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.\u201d That is incredible latitude for medical practitioners, given that in truth <em>every birth<\/em> presents a potential risk to the physical or mental health of the mother.<\/p>\n<p>The same-sex union amendment\u2019s referral to the Declaration of Independence in its claim that marriage is a right \u201cessential to the orderly pursuit of happiness\u201d is also deplorable. As our Bill of Rights makes perfectly clear, the right to religious freedom trumps an individual\u2019s desire to be happy, especially when that conception of happiness is not the classical <em>eudaimonia<\/em> intended by Thomas Jefferson (meaning human flourishing), but a fabricated \u201cright to define one\u2019s own concept of existence, of meaning, of the universe, and of the mystery of human life,\u201d as Justice Anthony Kennedy claimed in the 1992 decision <em>Planned Parenthood v. Casey<\/em>. <\/p>\n<p>Moreover, the Virginia Democrats\u2019 amendments entirely ignore the welfare of children forced to be raised not by a mother and father but by \u201ctwo mommies\u201d or \u201ctwo daddies,\u201d \u2014 or to be gestated by a third-party mother who must give up the \u201cproduct\u201d child or, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.deseret.com\/family\/2026\/08\/20\/surrogate-mother-sued-after-refusing-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">horrifically<\/a>, as we are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/morning-mix\/wp\/2016\/01\/07\/i-am-not-having-an-abortion-a-surrogate-mothers-stand-against-reducing-her-triplets\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">sometimes seeing<\/a>, be pressured to abort the child.<\/p>\n<p>The amendments reiterate that no matter how loudly Democrats proclaim their \u201cmoderation,\u201d leftists remain zealously committed to radical cultural revolution intended not only to reshape American society, but to attack fundamental rights to life and liberty.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jack Danielson (a pen name) has almost 15 years of managerial experience in a variety of jobs in the United States and abroad. His writing had been featured in many publications. The Federalist verifies the identities of its pseudonymous authors.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Virginia votes start Sept. 18: radical amendments on abortion, marriage<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4298,"featured_media":2663146,"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\/09\/Copy-of-Untitled-2026-09-15T144126.777.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[32868,39310,33240,38033],"class_list":["post-2663145","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-abortion-rights","tag-constitutional-amendments","tag-lgbtq-rights","tag-virginia-politics"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Copy-of-Untitled-2026-09-15T144126.777.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663145","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\/4298"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2663145"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663145\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2663161,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2663145\/revisions\/2663161"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2663146"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2663145"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2663145"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2663145"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}