After a late start to the 2025 session, which came to a close last Saturday, the slim pro-abortion majority wasted no time pushing the extreme Unlimited Abortion up to Birth Amendment through in both the Senate and House of Delegates chambers. The Democrat majority used their power to ignore the hundreds of calls, emails and texts that were sent to their offices, as well as the hundreds of Virginians who came repeatedly to Richmond to voice their opposition. It was evident that the money spent by abortion organizations to support abortion-minded candidates held sway.
This completes the first step in a two-year process to get a new amendment added to the state constitution. If the same resolution passes in both chambers again in the 2026 General Assembly session, it will become a ballot measure in the fall of 2026, needing only a simple majority of the vote to become a permanent part of the Constitution of Virginia. (The Governor has no role regarding a constitutional amendment, so pro-life Governor Glenn Youngkin cannot veto this legislation.)
In between the consecutive-year votes on the Amendment in the General Assembly, there must be an election for the House of Delegates. That will occur this November 4th, when all 100 seats in the House of Delegates are up for election. This is the best chance pro-life and other concerned Virginians have to stop this dreadful amendment that will remove all rational pro-life laws and prevent the passage of any new ones.
Pro-life Virginians must use the next few months to educate their family and friends, their churches, and their organizations about just how extreme this amendment is. Then it is critical that we all work to get out the vote, to elect a pro-life majority in the House of Delegates to defeat the Amendment in the 2026 General Assembly session and keep it off the 2026 ballot!
Pro-life Legislators Voice Strong Opposition to the Unlimited Abortion Amendment in the House and Senate
VSHL has Youtube Channel with more speeches and debates. Click Here to go to the channel. Here are a few from some of the Delegates to share right now.
Good bills Face Mixed Response and Bad Bills Move Forward
This year’s session was a short intense one and all bills were dealt with in a fast and furious manner.
The Positive
During the 2025 session a number of bills were introduced by both Democrats and Republicans that would provide information and more support for pregnant women and their babies. The bills got a mixed response in both chambers. Some found bi-partisan support; many did not.
The ones that didn’t find support included a bill to require colleges to provide pregnant college students with information about help offered by their campus, a budget amendment to adopt the Hyde amendment into State Medicaid plans, a bill to provide an adoption tax credit for family adoptions, and a bill from Gov. Youngkin’s Maternal Health Commission to establish a Maternal Health coordinator program.
Happily, a bill from Gov. Youngkin’s Maternal Health Commission and carried by Sen. Jordan to standardize care for emergency pregnancy in Virginia hospitals did pass.
Members of the Black Caucus introduced several bills that were intended to expand services and care provided to pregnant women through Virginia’s Medicaid programs. The intention of the plan, nicknamed the MOMnibus, was to draw attention to the high rate of pregnancy related health concerns among African-American mothers. VSHL’s team testified in favor of several of these bills. Some included programs to assist women in rural and underserved areas of the state to have access to new technology to monitor pregnancy related health issues, including gestational diabetes or heart health. It also expands the opportunities for mid-wives and doulas to assist women. Most of these bills passed and await the Governor’s signature.
VSHL is pleased that the Black Caucus opened this conversation this year and we hope to see more bills like these that expand support for all pregnant women throughout Virginia. We look forward to working on more like this in future.
On another pro-life front, thankfully there was no assisted suicide bill introduced this year. VSHL will continue to monitor this issue and keep you informed.
The Negative
Sadly, multiple bills were also introduced to expand protections for abortionists, sometimes called shield laws. These bills are intended to prevent abortionists who break the protective pro-life laws in in other states from being extradited for any action that violates another state’s law, including distributing abortion drugs across state lines illegally or practicing medicine in another state without a license. Fortunately, although the two bills in question did pass in the Senate, they did not get a hearing in the House of Delegates. This may have been due to the news that broke two weeks ago out of Louisiana about a woman who obtained chemical abortion pills from a radical abortionist from New York and then forced her teenage daughter to take the pills. Thankfully, Governor Youngkin was prepared to veto them if they’d passed. This is the second year that Democrats have attempted to provide cover to abortionist who knowingly break the law outside of Virginia.
Another very disturbing bill that has come out of this session creates new criminal penalty for anyone who comes within 40 feet of an abortion facility, or eight feet of an individual, and attempts to speak to someone, offer pamphlets, or prevents them from entering that building. The bill is clearly an infringement on freedom of speech and creates a thought crime as it implies that anyone involved in peaceful action, including prayer, would be intending harm. The penalty would be a Class 1 misdemeanor and carry a heavy fine and jail time.
The bill’s patron, Democratic Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell, made it clear that his intention is to prevent pro-life citizens from communicating with women in crisis at these facilities. VSHL will seek the Governor’s veto on this bill.
Among other bills that VSHL was watching this year are multiple bills that deal will a so-called right to contraception. While VSHL does not take a position for or against contraception, we did oppose these bills this year because they do not provide a separation between contraception and drugs such as Mifepristone, the abortion drug, which the FDA has considered listing as an approved from of contraception. Nor do these bills provide a conscience exemption if medical personal do not want to be forced to distribute abortion causing drugs. VSHL will also seek the Governor’s veto on this legislation.
Governor Youngkin has thirty days to sign or veto legislation.
Virginia Pro-life Day Marks Another Major Event in Richmond
As was reported earlier, the hundreds of pro-lifers who made their way to the General Assembly on January 29th for the fourth annual Pro-life Advocacy Day made a powerful impact in the halls and chambers of the General Assembly. VSHL is also deeply grateful to the folks from the local area who came multiple times during the first few days of the session to be witnesses for life at hearings and final votes about the amendment. Many pro-life legislators were so grateful for the support they felt during those votes on the floor.
Thank you to everyone who sent a message via email text or phone to their legislators. It all matters!
What we saw and what it means now
As the 2025 session ends, we must face the fact that the most critical thing that happened this year was the passage of the so-called Reproductive Freedom Act, more accurately called the extreme “Unlimited Abortion Up-to-Birth” Act. The harsh reality is that pro-life Virginians cannot sit back. We must get control of the House of Delegates if we are going to stop the agenda of pro-abortion organizations and promoters. Only one vote separated pro-lifers from stopping passage in each Chamber of the General Assembly this year. It would be even safer if we can gain two or more votes.
So what can you do? Talk about what happened in Richmond this year. Step out of your comfort zone and share the facts. VSHL’s team can help you. Mobilizing right now will make all the difference.
Make a donation to VSHL if you can to help us raise the funds to educate everyone in the Commonwealth about how extreme this amendment really is. This project will not be easy or cheap. Pro-abortion groups have their eyes set on Virginia and they have deep pockets to get their way. Your support is essential to our work. Thank you.
