More than 150 Virginia pastors have signed an open letter urging voters to reject two proposed constitutional amendments concerning abortion and marriage, framing the November referendum as a question of religious conviction, human dignity, and the role of government in protecting life and defining marriage.
The two amendments are scheduled to appear before Virginia voters on November 3, 2026. According to the Virginia Department of Elections, one proposal concerns reproductive health care, including abortion, while the other would establish equal treatment under state law for marriages between two adults regardless of sex, gender, or race. If approved, the amendments would take effect January 1, 2027.
The pastors' coalition, writing as Virginia citizens and Christian ministers, says the proposals conflict with its understanding of biblical teaching and the common good.
“As citizens of Virginia, we are under moral obligation to vote for the good of our Commonwealth,” the pastors wrote. “Truly, this is what commonwealth means, for we are bound together here for one another’s common good.”
The letter argues that the proposed abortion amendment would conflict with the coalition's belief that human life possesses inherent value from conception through natural death.
“All human life is sacred and created by God in His image,” the pastors wrote, citing Genesis 1:27.
They specifically called for legal protections for unborn children, as well as for people who are elderly, disabled, or otherwise vulnerable.
“We are therefore called to defend, protect, and value all human life,” the letter states.
A Direct Challenge Over Abortion
The pastors' strongest objections concern the proposed reproductive-rights amendment.
They characterize abortion as the taking of an unborn child's life and reject the argument that abortion should be constitutionally protected as a fundamental right or treated simply as health care.
“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,” the pastors wrote.
The coalition also argues that the circumstances of an unborn child—including size, developmental stage, environment, or dependency—should not determine whether that life receives protection.
The letter appeals directly to women considering abortion, urging them to carry their pregnancies to term and describing unborn children as having a fundamental right “to be born, to live, and to breathe.”
The pastors conclude their argument by explicitly calling on voters to reject the abortion amendment.
“There is never a parental right to take the life of a child,” they wrote. “We must not dehumanize an entire class of the most vulnerable persons and enshrine a ‘right’ to destroy innocent life in the Virginia Constitution.”
Marriage Amendment Also Draws Opposition
The coalition's letter also opposes the proposed constitutional change concerning marriage.
Virginia's 2026 legislative changes include a proposed amendment requiring equal treatment under state law of a lawful marriage between two adults regardless of sex, gender, or race.
The pastors' opposition is rooted in their religious understanding of marriage and family rather than in the legal terminology used by the proposed amendment.
For the signatories, the two questions represent broader questions about how Virginia's constitution should address human life, family, marriage, and religiously informed moral convictions.
Their letter therefore presents the November referendum as more than a technical constitutional exercise. It is an appeal to Virginia voters to consider the amendments through the pastors' stated understanding of Christian ethics and the common good.
The November 3 vote will ultimately determine whether the proposed constitutional changes become part of Virginia's governing document. If voters approve them, the amendments are scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2027.
