How Amendment 1’s side effects could happen

For each one: the words in the amendment that create the risk, Virginia law today, how it could play out, and other facts that bear on it. We don’t predict how a court would rule. Once an amendment passes, these questions are decided by courts, not voters.

  1. 1Virginia’s limits on abortion in the last three months of pregnancy could be challenged in court.

    What Amendment 1 says
    The state “may regulate” third-trimester abortion, but “in no circumstance” may it prohibit one that “in the professional judgment of a physician is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health” of the patient, or when “the fetus is not viable.”
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, a third-trimester abortion is allowed only in a licensed hospital, and only if the attending physician and two consulting physicians certify that continuing the pregnancy is likely to cause the woman’s death or “substantially and irremediably impair” her mental or physical health (§ 18.2-74).
    How it could happen
    The amendment needs one physician’s judgment and any physical or mental health reason that physician finds medically indicated. Virginia’s law needs three physicians and a risk of substantial, irremediable harm. A doctor or patient could sue in a Virginia court, arguing the three-physician rule and the higher standard prohibit abortions the amendment protects.
    Other facts that bear on it
    The text says the state “may regulate” abortion in the third trimester. It doesn’t say which of Virginia’s current rules, such as the hospital requirement, count as regulating and which count as prohibiting.
    Where the same words have been tested
    Michigan’s 2022 amendment uses the same test as Virginia’s Amendment 1, word for word in its key parts. In June 2024 a Michigan court blocked that state’s 24-hour waiting period and standard informed-consent rules under it, and in May 2025 struck them down. Ohio’s 2023 amendment led a judge to block Ohio’s 24-hour waiting period in August 2024; the state appealed. Virginia courts wouldn’t be bound by these rulings. They show how courts have read the same words.

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections · Code of Virginia § 18.2-74, current third-trimester law · Michigan Constitution, Article I, § 28 (approved 2022) · CBS Detroit, May 14, 2025: judge overturns 24-hour waiting period · WOSU, Aug. 23, 2024: Ohio 24-hour waiting period on hold

  2. 2The rule that a parent must agree before a minor’s abortion could be challenged in court.

    What Amendment 1 says
    “Every individual” has the right, with no age limit. A law that “directly or indirectly” burdens it must serve a “compelling state interest,” and the only interest that counts is “maintaining or improving the health of an individual seeking care,” without infringing “that individual’s autonomous decision making.”
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, a minor needs written consent from a parent or other authorized adult, or a judge’s approval, before an abortion. A physician who performs one without it commits a misdemeanor (§ 16.1-241(W)).
    How it could happen
    A minor, a doctor or a clinic could argue in a Virginia court that requiring a parent’s consent burdens the minor’s right, and that the state’s reason, involving parents, isn’t one the text allows: it isn’t about the minor’s health, and it limits her “autonomous decision making.”
    Other facts that bear on it
    Under Roe, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed parental-consent laws as long as a judge could approve instead (Bellotti v. Baird, 1979), and Virginia’s law has that option. Roe also let states cite interests other than the patient’s health. This text names only one: “maintaining or improving the health of an individual seeking care.”

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections · Code of Virginia § 16.1-241, parental consent and judicial bypass (subsection W)

  3. 3An adult could help a minor get an abortion without a parent knowing and face no penalty for that help. That includes a statutory rapist or human trafficker.

    What Amendment 1 says
    The state “shall not penalize, prosecute, or otherwise take adverse action against any individual for aiding or assisting another individual” in exercising the right “with such other individual’s voluntary consent.” The right belongs to “every individual,” with no age limit.
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, a minor needs a parent’s consent or a judge’s approval (§ 16.1-241(W)). Knowingly signing a consent form without being an authorized adult is a misdemeanor under the same section.
    How it could happen
    An adult who took a minor for an abortion without her parents knowing, with her consent, could raise the amendment as a defense against a charge or other action in Virginia based on that help. The text doesn’t limit who the helper is, so it reaches an adult who got her pregnant, including a statutory rapist or a human trafficker. Rape and trafficking stay crimes; what couldn’t be punished is the help with the abortion.
    Other facts that bear on it
    The text doesn’t say whether a minor can give “voluntary consent,” and it doesn’t mention Virginia’s parental-consent law.
    Where the same words have been tested
    Michigan’s amendment has the same protection for anyone “aiding or assisting” with “voluntary consent.” We found no court ruling on how it applies to minors, in Michigan or in Virginia. Virginia courts wouldn’t be bound by these rulings. They show how courts have read the same words.

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections · Code of Virginia § 16.1-241, parental consent and judicial bypass (subsection W) · Michigan Constitution, Article I, § 28 (approved 2022)

  4. 4Laws that help catch abuse, like reporting rules and saving evidence, could be challenged in court.

    What Amendment 1 says
    Any law that “directly or indirectly” burdens the right must pass the strictest test courts use, and the only interest that counts is the patient’s own health.
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, a minor’s abortion needs a parent’s consent or a judge’s approval (§ 16.1-241(W)), and doctors must report suspected child abuse within 24 hours (§ 63.2-1509).
    How it could happen
    Virginia rules that let a parent learn of a minor’s pregnancy, or that add steps around her abortion, could be challenged as an indirect burden. If they fall, fewer adults in a minor’s life would learn of the pregnancy, and a pregnancy can be how abuse comes to light.
    Other facts that bear on it
    Virginia’s abuse-reporting law covers all suspected child abuse and isn’t written about abortion. In Michigan, the court that struck the waiting period kept a rule requiring clinics to screen patients for coercion.
    Where the same words have been tested
    Michigan’s 2022 amendment uses the same test as Virginia’s Amendment 1, word for word in its key parts. In June 2024 a Michigan court blocked that state’s 24-hour waiting period and standard informed-consent rules under it, and in May 2025 struck them down. Ohio’s 2023 amendment led a judge to block Ohio’s 24-hour waiting period in August 2024; the state appealed. Virginia courts wouldn’t be bound by these rulings. They show how courts have read the same words.

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections · Code of Virginia § 16.1-241, parental consent (subsection W) · Code of Virginia § 63.2-1509, who must report suspected child abuse · Northland Family Planning Center v. Nessel, Michigan Court of Claims, June 25, 2024 · CBS Detroit, May 14, 2025: judge overturns 24-hour waiting period

  5. 5A vague phrase, “shall not discriminate,” would let courts decide what else it covers. That could include taxpayer funding.

    What Amendment 1 says
    “The Commonwealth shall not discriminate in the protection or enforcement of this fundamental right.” The amendment doesn’t define “discriminate.”
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, what public programs pay for is set by the General Assembly in state law and the budget.
    How it could happen
    Someone could argue that a Virginia program that pays for childbirth but not abortion “discriminates” in protecting the right. Because the word isn’t defined, a court would decide whether it reaches funding.
    Other facts that bear on it
    The amendment doesn’t mention funding, public programs or the budget.

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections

  6. 6The law that lets doctors, nurses and hospitals refuse to take part in abortions for moral or religious reasons could be challenged in court.

    What Amendment 1 says
    The right can’t be “directly or indirectly” burdened, and the amendment has no exception for people or hospitals who object on religious or moral grounds.
    Virginia law today
    In Virginia, hospitals don’t have to admit patients for abortions, and anyone who objects in writing “on personal, ethical, moral or religious grounds” can’t be required to take part, or be sued, disciplined or denied a job for refusing (§ 18.2-75).
    How it could happen
    A patient could argue that a refusal protected by § 18.2-75 indirectly burdens her right, for example where few hospitals are nearby. The amendment would be part of Virginia’s Constitution and § 18.2-75 is an ordinary law, so the amendment would win any direct conflict.
    Other facts that bear on it
    The amendment’s limits are written about what “the Commonwealth” does. It doesn’t name private hospitals, doctors or nurses. Federal laws, such as the Church Amendments, also protect some providers who refuse.

    Sources: Question 1 legal text, Va. Dept. of Elections · Code of Virginia § 18.2-75, conscience clause

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