More than 150 pastors signed an open letter urging Virginians to vote “no” on proposed amendments that would enshrine abortion and same-sex marriage into the state constitution.
Between early voting and election day — September 18 to November 3 — Virginians are voting on Question 1 and Question 2, which the coalition of pastors says “are opposed to human flourishing and contrary to the Word of God.” Question 1 would enshrine abortion throughout pregnancy into the state constitution, and Question 2 would strike the state constitution’s 2006 definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman and replace it with language allowing any two adults to marry.
“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,” the letter reads. “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.”
The pastors said voters should first reject the abortion amendment because “it will bring about more destruction of human life in the womb.” Abortion is already legal in Virginia up to 26 weeks and six days of pregnancy. The amendment would make abortion a “fundamental right” and allow women to: