Talking about the Constitutional Amendment for Reproductive Freedom

Whether you are talking to your friends and family, the woman in line ahead of you at the coffee shop, or a prospective voter, you’ll want to acquaint yourself with how to talk  about the Constitutional Amendment for Reproductive Freedom first. 

Getting started 

• Don’t repeat opposition talking points, even to counter them. It just brings bad juju and gives the misinformation more airtime. 
• Don’t rely only on life-threatening or traumatic experiences to make your point. A lot of reproductive healthcare stories are not traumatic at all, and those stories are valid, too. Each us has a story and every story is valid. That’s why we do this work. 
• Be honest if you don’t know the answer to a question. Point people to organizations who provide accurate information – like REPRO Rising Virginia! 

Ballot language 

Should the Constitution of Virginia be amended to (i) protect the freedom to make personal decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, abortion, miscarriage management, and fertility care; (ii) protect doctors, nurses, and patients from being punished for these decisions; and (iii) allow for restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient’s health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive? 

The basics on the Constitutional Amendment for Reproductive Freedom 

• The constitutional amendment process in Virginia is intentionally arduous; this is not a spur of the moment policy sprung on voters at the last minute. Constitutional amendments must pass both chambers of the General Assembly two years in a row with an intervening House of Delegates election between them before it can even be sent to the voters for consideration. Voters have the final say! 
• The amendment protects more than just abortion – it covers the full spectrum of reproductive healthcare including prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, birth control, miscarriage management, and fertility care. And trust us, abortion opponents are coming after all of it! 
• The amendment protects medical providers, patients, and those helping them access care from potential criminalization! Abortion is healthcare! 

Countering misinformation (and disinformation) 

• Virginians need a constitutional amendment to protect reproductive healthcare from future bans and rollbacks on abortion, birth control, or fertility treatment. It will keep one partisan election from allowing politicians to roll back our rights with the swipe of a pen. 
• Reproductive healthcare, including abortions, will still be regulated in the same way that all healthcare is regulated within the state. What the amendment would disallow is Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) laws, that single out abortion providers for unnecessary regulations that do not benefit the patient and are meant to shutter abortion providers.   
• The Amendment specifically allows the state government to pass laws to regulate abortion care in the third trimester of pregnancy, but requires any such law to allow for abortion care when it is medically needed to protect the life and health of the pregnant person or because the fetus is not viable.” (And this language is straight from the state-approved ballot explainer text!) 
• The Amendment is silent on parental consent. 
• Protecting doctors, patients, and those helping them access care might sound like it’s not necessary, but plenty of states are trying to prosecute doctors for providing care, patients for accessing it (or even just for miscarrying), and the  rideshare driver or friend who drove them to get an abortion or pick up a mifepristone prescription. We say, “Not in Virginia!” 

The bottom line 

No politician is ever more qualified than you and your medical provider to make personal decisions about your body and your pregnancy.  

Extra credit 

If you have 20 minutes to spare, Virginia Public Media held a panel in Richmond recently with nonpartisan experts (a journalist and a biomedical ethics and law professor) and extensively covered Ballot Question 1 in a fair and unbiased way. But don’t take our word for it –