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Senate clears marriage, voting, abortion amendments; Right to Work amendment dumped

Sen. Mark Obenshain listens to Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy outline her opposition to his constitutional amendment adding Virginia’s right-to-work law added to the state constitution.
Michael Pope
Sen. Mark Obenshain listens to Sen. Jennifer Carroll Foy outline her opposition to his constitutional amendment adding Virginia’s right-to-work law added to the state constitution.

Three state constitutional amendments passed the Senate Tuesday.

The amendments would guarantee access to abortion, restore the voting rights of felons who’ve served their time, and remove Virginia’s ban on same-sex marriage. While the abortion and voting amendments passed along party lines, the marriage amendment received some Republican votes.

Similar legislation already passed the House of Delegates this month.

The amendments will have to be voted on again in the 2026 General Assembly session before going to voters in a referendum later that year.

Tuesday night, a Senate committee took up a Republican sponsored amendment.

Ever since the 1940s, Virginia has prohibited employers from requiring employees join a union as a condition of employment. Now Republican Senator Mark Obenshain of Rockingham County says that law should be added to the Constitution.

"There is a commitment on one side to roll back our Right To Work laws and on the other side to stand up for the rights of workers to make their own choices as to whether to join a union or not join a union. Should be their choice," Obenshain said after the hearing, "and it's clear that's going to be an issue we are going to be talking about going into the elections."

His proposed amendment adding Virginia's right-to-work law to the state constitution failed on Tuesday. One of the senators who helped defeat it was Jennifer Carroll Foy, a Democrat from Prince William County. She says she'd like to see the Right To Work law overturned eventually.

"We will be, and so I think it's all about educating the public. It's all about polling and laying the groundwork and the foundation to propose Right To Work legislation. And I think that is something that you'll see in the near future," Carroll Foy said.

So, the Republican constitutional amendment may have been defeated. But Democrats have successfully approved proposed amendments to protect abortion rights, extend voting rights and protect gay marriage.

 
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.

Michael Pope is an author and journalist who lives in Old Town Alexandria.
David Seidel is Radio IQ's News Director.