A group of pastors are imploring Virginians to vote no on proposed constitutional amendments in November’s elections that would permanently enshrine abortion access and same-sex marriage in the state’s governing document. 

Over the weekend, pastors of Virginia wrote a letter to the Commonwealth declaring their stance on the propositions. Twenty-five names are shown as the initial signatures on the document, followed by an additional 150, largely from Baptist and Presbyterian churches in the state. 

“We write to you with prayer and concern for the ongoing vote (Sept 18-Nov 3) on the abortion and marriage amendments to the Virginia Constitution,” the letter opens. “We believe these two amendments must be rejected for the Commonwealth of Virginia because they will harm our state as they are opposed to human flourishing and contrary to the Word of God.”

It continues, “As citizens of Virginia, we are under moral obligation to vote for the good of our Commonwealth. Truly, this is what commonwealth means, for we are bound together here for one another’s common good. Let us seek one another’s true good and not mark our identity with the deprivations that these amendments would bring to the Constitution of Virginia.”

In Virginia, it is currently legal for mothers to intentionally end the life of their child at up to 26 weeks and six days gestation. But, the Virginia Constitution does not “explicitly allow” this. The proposed modification, Amendment 1, would make abortion a “fundamental right,” giving women the power “to make and carry out decisions” when it comes to abortion “with only certain, specific exceptions,” according to the Virginia Department of Elections. While the amendment would allow for regulations in the third trimester, it would still override those regulations when it is deemed that abortion is “medically needed to protect the life and health of the pregnant person or because the fetus is not viable.” Experts have pointed out that the language is rife with pro-abortion euphemisms that are often used even though abortion is never medically necessary. 

“[In the state of Virginia], we’ve had 38,000 abortions last year. We are getting close to nearly 40,000 abortions. … That’s basically for every four children that are born, we are taking the life of one,” Victoria Cobb, president of The Family Foundation of Virginia, explained during a recent appearance on The Washington Stand’s “Outstanding” podcast. 

Cobb continued that two thirds of Virginia abortions are done through the drug mifepristone. “People have no idea how tragic chemical abortion is, … tak[ing the life of this beautiful, going to be wonderful child in your life. Chemical abortion is extremely unsafe. One in 10 [women] have some kind of terrible consequence, [including] bleeding [and] infection [and] ends up having to go to the hospital [to] have the abortion completed. … So this is what’s going on in Virginia. And we’re thinking about making it worse at the ballot box.”

Gabriella McIntyre, a legal counsel for Alliance Defending Freedom’s Center for Life, echoed Cobb at Family Research Council’s Pray Vote Stand Summit over the weekend. McIntyre pointed out that the FDA’s facts for mifepristone even state serious warnings. “The label itself says that roughly one in 25 women who take this drug are going to end up in the emergency room when they take it the way it’s directed, and that 7% of them will need surgical intervention to complete their abortions.”

The pastor’s letter also underscores the fallacy that chemical abortions could be considered health care. “It is moral distortion to present this violation of the sixth commandment as a moral good or as a fundamental right, and it is deceptive framing to present abortion’s destruction of life as healthcare. Mothers should not destroy the life in their wombs, and medical professionals should care for every human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable. Human life must not be defined, devalued, or destroyed because of size, level of development, environment, or degree of dependency.”

The pastors are also asking voters to vote against Amendment 2, which would “(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” should the Supreme Court ever overturn Obergefell v. Hodges.

“The term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman into a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture,” asserts the letter. “It is presumptuous to imagine it can be redefined, and it is modern arrogance to believe this generation knows better than all past generations. … Ontology is not rooted in self, but in an objective reality that is immutably created by God. It is self-deceptive to imagine that one can redefine the institution of marriage or remake oneself in regard to gender.”

The pastor’s letter concludes by reminding voters that no individual is irredeemable, and that it is never too late to start affirming biblical truth. “We write this letter for your good and with love for the Commonwealth of Virginia. And as we say this, we recognize that none of us are truly good, and this calls for humility. We are all guilty of sin, and we have no hope in our own merit, but only in the grace of God as seen in Christ’s cross and resurrection. There is redemption and restoration to all who confess and forsake their sin, seeking God’s mercy and forgiveness through Jesus Christ. Christ’s death for our sins and his resurrection from the grave is the hope of the world.”