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CV NEWS FEED // Catholic bishops in Virginia are protesting heightened efforts to pass a constitutional amendment that would enshrine abortion as a right in the state’s constitution, according to a Jan. 21 joint statement from Bishop Michael F. Burbidge and Bishop Barry C. Knestout.
The Virginia House and Congress both passed the “right to abortion” amendment (HJ 1/SJ 247), the bishops explained. The House passed the resolution, along with a resolution repealing the one-man, one-woman definition of marriage (HJ 9/SJ 249), and another resolution (HJ 2/SJ 248) allowing former prisoners to vote, last week. The Senate passed all three resolutions on Jan. 21.
The process to pass the resolutions, however, is not finished. Virginia’s NPR station, VPM, explains, “As part of the multiyear amendment process, the measures would need to be passed again next year — after voters elect a new House of Delegates — and then could head to voters in 2026.”
The bishops wrote of the abortion resolution, “This resolution is extreme, radical, deadly, and tragically misguided. It would expand our Commonwealth’s already very permissive abortion laws and allow virtually unlimited abortion at any stage of pregnancy. We again implore all lawmakers to work instead for policies that affirm the life and dignity of every mother and every child.”
The bishops also thanked Virginia Catholics for contacting their legislators to voice their opposition to the abortion and marriage resolutions.
“Your voices are vital and will be needed at every stage in this long-term fight for the values we cherish and the lives these measures impact,” the release stated, “especially the lives of those who have no voice but ours.”
