With the looming threat of an amendment to the state constitution that would enshrine the right to abortion, thousands of pro-life supporters rallied in Richmond to defend the lives of unborn children at the Virginia March for Life April 2.
“When we show up to witness for life we cannot be ignored,” said speaker Erin Getz of the National March for Life, and parishioner of St. Agnes Church in Arlington. “We need everyone to go out and talk to your senators and delegates to let them know that we oppose this.”
“For our school to represent life is really important,” said Richard Zimmerman, a junior at Saint John Paul the Great Catholic High School in Potomac Shores. “Not only does this show what we stand for as a school and community, it shows how we come together. We are all fighting the same fight.”
Aggressive efforts to guarantee abortion as a “fundamental right” in the state constitution have cleared the first hurdle as the House and Senate voted to approve the amendment in January. It would also reduce the number of doctors required to approve a third-trimester abortion from three to one.
The amendment must pass in the General Assembly two years in a row, raising the stakes in this November’s House of Delegates election when the entire House is up for reelection. If the amendment passes again next year, it clears the path for voters to decide the issue in fall 2026.
In a joint statement from the Virginia Catholic Conference Jan 21, Bishop Michael F. Burbidge and Richmond Bishop Barry C. Knestout expressed their strong opposition:
“This resolution is extreme, radical, deadly, and tragically misguided. It would expand our Commonwealth’s already very permissive abortion laws and allow virtually unlimited abortion at any stage of pregnancy. We again implore all lawmakers to work instead for policies that affirm the life and dignity of every mother and every child.”
Many marchers said they felt an added sense of urgency with the constitutional amendment on the horizon. “Oh, definitely,” said Nelly Drouillard, a parishioner of St. Raymond of Peñafort in Springfield. “We need to pray and be out there in the public square and let our representatives know what it means to respect life.”
April Collins, an eighth grader at Holy Cross Academy in Fredericksburg, had a message for all young people. “I think they should know that life is life,” she said. “It’s science, it’s biology, it’s human life, and we should defend it from conception to natural death.”
“We are here to be witnesses to the Gospel of life,” said Bishop Burbidge, who marched alongside many diocesan student groups and parishes. “This is a very powerful way of letting our voices be heard. We march joyfully, peacefully, and united in prayer with the hope that our legislators hear the voice of God to do what is good and holy and just. My encouragement for everyone here is to realize that your presence makes a difference and that your prayers are very powerful.”
This story has been updated
