A Resource for Our Congregation
Virginia's 2026 Constitutional Amendments
This November, Virginians will vote on two proposed amendments to our state constitution that touch directly on core convictions of our faith - the definition of marriage, and a newly proposed "right to reproductive freedom." This page gathers what each amendment says, what it means, and how Scripture speaks to both, so you can vote with a clear and informed conscience.
What's on the ballot is whether to place them permanently in the state constitution, making them extremely difficult to ever revisit, adjust, or limit in the future.
Election Day Tuesday, November 3, 2026Share this page: bit.ly/3UZfGcb
A Letter to Our Church Family
Why we're bringing this to your attention, and what our denomination has already said.
This November, Virginia will be voting on a number of changes to our state constitution. We want you to be aware of two amendments in particular that tie directly into our faith and biblical convictions.
The first would change the constitution's definition of marriage. The second, titled the "Fundamental Right to Reproductive Freedom" amendment, concerns abortion. Both amendments use language that would codify a secular worldview into our state's foundational law, with lasting effects on the future of our Commonwealth. What's on the ballot is whether to place them permanently in the state constitution, making them extremely difficult to ever revisit, adjust, or limit in the future.
We want you to be informed about what these amendments actually say, and to carefully and prayerfully consider your vote. As you weigh this decision, it's worth hearing what our own denomination, the Charis Fellowship, has already affirmed on these very questions:
"We affirm that human life is sacred and worthy of respect. From the moment of conception, human life is precious and deserves protection from murder, suicide, abortion, and mercy killing. We affirm that those who are terminally ill deserve appropriate medical care, including palliative care and pain management, but medically-assisted suicide is not a moral or biblical option."
Charis Fellowship - Affirmation of Life
"We believe God created marriage to be a public covenant relationship, normally consummated by the union of sexual intercourse, between two consenting people one man and one woman. This covenant is to endure as long as both are living; for the purposes of mutual joy, mutual edification, procreation, and symbolizing the covenant relationship between Christ and His church to all generations. We affirm that all sexual relations of any kind that occur outside the boundaries of marriage are immoral and contradict God's design for humanity."
Charis Fellowship - Marriage and Sexuality
Below you'll find resources to help you understand what each amendment says, what it could mean, and how it relates to Scripture - including direct links to the official ballot language on the Commonwealth's own website.
Please read, pray, and vote your conscience.
- Grace Church, Richmond, VA
Question 1 - "Reproductive Freedom" Amendment
This is the amendment concerning abortion. It appears as Question 1 on the November ballot.
"Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient's health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive?"
That every individual has the fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including the ability to make and carry out decisions relating to one's own prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, abortion care, miscarriage management, and fertility care.
An individual's right to reproductive freedom shall not be, directly or indirectly, denied, burdened, or infringed upon unless justified by a compelling state interest achieved by the least restrictive means.
Notwithstanding the above, the Commonwealth may regulate the provision of abortion care in the third trimester, provided that in no circumstance shall the Commonwealth prohibit an abortion (i) that in the professional judgment of a physician is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual or (ii) when in the professional judgment of a physician the fetus is not viable.
The Commonwealth shall not discriminate in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right.
The Commonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against an individual based on such individual's own exercise of this fundamental right or such individual's own actual, potential, perceived, or alleged pregnancy outcomes, including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion. The Commonwealth shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against any individual for aiding or assisting another individual in exercising such other individual's right to reproductive freedom with such other individual's voluntary consent.
For the purposes of this section, a state interest is compelling only if it is for the limited purpose of maintaining or improving the health of an individual seeking care, consistent with accepted clinical standards of care and evidence-based medicine, and does not infringe on that individual's autonomous decision making.
This section shall be self-executing. Any provision of this section held invalid shall be severable from the remaining portions of the section.
What Supporters of a "No" Vote Say It Means
Abortion Up to Birth
The amendment doesn't define "viability," leaving it to each physician's undefined "professional judgment" - critics say this could permit abortion with no gestational limit.
Reaches Beyond Abortion
The undefined term "reproductive freedom" could be read by courts to cover sterilization and transgender medical procedures, including for minors.
Babies Born Alive
Critics argue the amendment's language provides no clear requirement that a baby who survives an abortion attempt receive life-saving medical care.
Embryo Research & Sale
No language in the amendment restricts the commercial sale of or research on human embryos.
Scale in Virginia
Virginia recorded more than 38,500 abortions in 2024 - a 126% increase over seven years - according to figures cited in these materials.
Parental Rights
Because the amendment applies to every "individual," critics say it could be used to challenge Virginia's parental consent and notification laws for minors.
Out-of-State Abortion
These materials cite a roughly 30% increase in Virginians providing abortions to out-of-state residents since the 2022 Dobbs decision.
Accountability
The clause protecting anyone who "aids or assists" another's exercise of this right, with only "voluntary consent" required, could make it harder to hold providers legally accountable for harm.
Five things to know - expanded analysis (ADF Church & Ministry Alliance)
1. Unrestricted abortion-on-demand
The amendment's broad "health exception" and undefined "viability" standard could permit unrestricted abortion, and existing protective laws could be challenged as unlawful "interference" with the new right. The amendment also omits the state interests traditionally used to justify regulation - protecting unborn life, mitigating fetal pain, preventing discrimination against the unborn, and more.
2. Interference with parental rights
Because "reproductive freedom" is left undefined, it could be read to include sterilization, assisted reproduction, and cross-sex hormone treatment - potentially without parental knowledge or consent, notwithstanding Virginia's existing parental consent law.
3. Taxpayer funding
Failing to publicly fund abortion, contraception, or gender-transition procedures could itself be challenged as "interference" with the new constitutional right.
4. Limited accountability
The provision shielding anyone who "aids or assists" another's exercise of this right may be interpreted to limit civil or criminal liability for providers who injure a patient.
5. Conscience protections for medical staff
Laws allowing doctors and nurses to decline to participate in abortion or gender-transition procedures could be challenged as "interference," pressuring conscientious objectors to participate or leave the field.
Question 2 - Marriage Amendment
This amendment would repeal Virginia's current constitutional definition of marriage and replace it with new language. It appears as Question 2 on the November ballot.
"Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?"
Repeal & Replace - Article I, Section 15-A
"That only a union between one man and one woman may be a marriage valid in or recognized by this Commonwealth and its political subdivisions... This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not create or recognize a legal status for relationships of unmarried individuals that intends to approximate the design, qualities, significance, or effects of marriage... Nor shall this Commonwealth or its political subdivisions create or recognize another union, partnership, or other legal status to which is assigned the rights, benefits, obligations, qualities, or effects of marriage."
"...marriage is one of the vital personal rights essential to the orderly pursuit of happiness. This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall not deny the issuance of a marriage license to two adult persons seeking a lawful marriage on the basis of the sex, gender, or race of such persons... This Commonwealth and its political subdivisions shall recognize any lawful marriage between two adult persons and treat such marriages equally under the law, regardless of the sex, gender, or race of such persons."
What Supporters of a "No" Vote Say It Means
Reframes Marriage
Marriage is redefined as a source of "personal happiness" rather than a covenant with obligations tied to raising children, and all mention of "man" and "woman" is removed from the constitutional text.
No Conscience Exemption
The amendment includes no religious-liberty exemption for pastors, clergy, or religious organizations whose faith does not recognize a same-sex or transgender union as marriage.
Adds "Gender" as a Category
By listing "sex" and "gender" as separate protected categories alongside race, critics argue the amendment embeds a sex/gender distinction that could be used to pressure schools and institutions on unrelated policy questions.
Downstream Effects
Opponents argue the same "sex, gender, or race" language, once in the constitution, could be invoked in disputes over school, sports, and facility policy well beyond marriage licensing.
Note: same-sex marriage is already legally recognized nationwide under Obergefell v. Hodges (2015); this amendment concerns what Virginia's own constitutional text says, independent of that ruling.
Biblical Foundations
Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible (BSB), which is dedicated to the public domain.
I. On the Sanctity of Human Life
The sanctity of human life - personhood begins before birth.
"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
"Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as a prophet to the nations."
"For You formed my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth."
"For as soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy."
"You shall not murder."
II. On Marriage
Marriage as a lifelong covenant between one man and one woman.
"For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh."
"The LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have broken faith, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant. Has not the LORD made them one? Because He seeks godly offspring. So guard yourselves in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth."
"Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."
"Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, His body, of which He is the Savior."
Our Denomination's Position
Official statements of the Charis Fellowship, our church's denomination, adopted July 2018 and reaffirmed July 2023.
Affirmation of Life
We affirm that human life is sacred and worthy of respect. From the moment of conception, human life is precious and deserves protection from murder, suicide, abortion, and mercy killing. We affirm that those who are terminally ill deserve appropriate medical care, including palliative care and pain management, but medically-assisted suicide is not a moral or biblical option.
Marriage and Sexuality
We believe God created marriage to be a public covenant relationship, normally consummated by the union of sexual intercourse, between two consenting people one man and one woman. This covenant is to endure as long as both are living; for the purposes of mutual joy, mutual edification, procreation, and symbolizing the covenant relationship between Christ and His church to all generations. We affirm that all sexual relations of any kind that occur outside the boundaries of marriage are immoral and contradict God's design for humanity.
Official Sources & Further Reading
Go directly to the Commonwealth's own pages for the exact ballot language and bill text, or read further from these organizations.
elections.virginia.gov → Question 1 - Reproductive Freedom (official page)
elections.virginia.gov → HB781 (2026) - Full Bill Text
lis.virginia.gov → Question 2 - Marriage (official page)
elections.virginia.gov → HJ9 (2025) - Full Bill Text
lis.virginia.gov → Stand for Life & Marriage
stand4lifeandmarriage.org → ADF Church & Ministry Alliance
ADFChurchAlliance.org → The Family Foundation
familyfoundation.org → Charis Fellowship - Position Statements (PDF)
charisfellowship.com →