Diocesan pro-life director urges Virginians to oppose pro-abortion amendment at polls
Caroline MolloyAmy McInerny, the director of the Respect Life Office of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia, is calling for Catholics to vote this month to put pro-life leaders in the state House of Delegates who she hopes can stop an extreme pro-abortion constitutional amendment from being passed before it is too late.
McInerny wrote in an article for the diocesan newspaper, The Arlington Catholic Herald, that the amendment is already one-quarter of the way to becoming law. In Virginia, an amendment must pass the General Assembly in both chambers by a simple majority, and the amendment must pass the General Assembly once more in the session immediately following a general election. If passed again, the amendment heads to the ballot for state residents to decide.
The amendment has already passed the General Assembly once. McInerny urged Virginians to turn out to the polls in this year’s general election, telling them that their chances of stopping the amendment are much higher at this point than they would be if the amendment later goes to the ballot. She pointed to other states that have proposed similar amendments as precedent, noting that 14 out of 17 states enacted the amendments.
“If this resolution reaches the fourth step — becoming a ballot initiative — we have little chance of defeating it as 14 other states have demonstrated,” she wrote. “Happily, there is hope: The brakes on this train are in our hands. All we have to do is to vote our values. Returning a pro-life majority to the House of Delegates Nov. 4 will stop this train in its tracks when the General Assembly reconvenes next January. It’s that simple.”
McInerney wrote that proponents of the amendment claim they are simply adding what Roe v. Wade guaranteed to the state constitution. However, the amendment “goes far beyond what Roe allowed,” she said. The resolution gives a right to “reproductive freedom” for everyone, which includes minors and could result in young children obtaining abortions without their parents’ knowledge, according to McInerney.
“As if unfettered abortion for all wasn’t enough, the amendment’s vague language could serve as a trojan horse to allow children experiencing gender dysphoria to seek surgical or chemical mutilation without parental involvement,” she continued. “In addition, the measure might make it nearly impossible for the General Assembly to pass common-sense health and safety regulations for the well-being of expectant mothers.”
