Virginia voters said yes to allowing abortion throughout a pregnancy Tuesday night, while Missourians defeated a proposed amendment that would have repealed a right to abortion until viability.
Voters in two states out West, Nevada and Idaho, also considered abortion measures to allow abortion up until fetal viability on Tuesday's ballot. Those questions were not yet decided as of midnight.
Virginians voted on a ballot question that would enshrine in the state constitution the "freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care." The measure, which also included language preventing doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for seeking abortions, passed by 61% to 39%.
As everyone knows, prenatal care and the other items besides abortion aren't the flashpoint that sent voters to the polls. Olivia Gans Turner, director of the Virginia Society for Human Life, told LifeNews that the measure was designed just for that reason.
“The hard truth is that this amendment is not about protecting women’s safe reproductive care, but merely more political action designed to make abortion up to birth permanently legal in Virginia,” Turner said. “The amendment isn’t about prenatal care, miscarriage care or fertility care, it’s about allowing unlimited abortion up to birth.”
Related: Maternal-Fetal Health Doctor Deplores Proposed Virginia Abortion Amendment
The language did stipulate that abortion could be restricted in the third trimester — except when "when the patient's health is at risk, or the pregnancy cannot survive." The health loophole can be expanded to just about anything a doctor decides. In effect, abortion will now be legal in Virginia.
Pro-life groups are already planning the fight. The Family Foundation of Virginia plans to sue the state to overturn both the abortion measure (Question 1) and another measure, which called for children to be transitioned without their parents' knowledge.
Virginia has passed Amendment 1, which allows abortion up to birth, children to be transitioned w/o parental knowledge or consent, & protects doctors from liability for botched abortions. But the wording was misleading. Good news: there’s already a lawsuit against the ballot question because it’s materially misleading. The suit, if won, would bar enforcement of the amendment. More info, including info on filing amicus briefs, here: https://t.co/AXzS5xdvuV
— Katelyn Walls Shelton (@AnnaKateShelt) November 4, 2026
In Missouri, the electorate voted down Referendum 3, which would have overturned the 2024 reproductive rights amendment to the state constitution, by a vote of 55% to 44.8%. If they had voted yes, abortion would have been allowed only in cases of medical emergency or fetal anomaly, or rape or incest up to 12 weeks. The referendum would also have banned gender surgeries and treatments for minors.
Shortly after midnight ET, early Wednesday morning, the "Yes" vote on the Idaho ballot measure was ahead by less than one percentage point, with 45% of the vote counted.
Editor's Note: Do you enjoy PJ Media's conservative reporting that takes on the radical Left and woke media? Support our work so that we can continue to bring you the truth.
Join PJ Media VIP and use promo code FIGHT to receive 60% off your membership.
Join the Conversation
VIP members get the ability to comment on articles.