A pastoral letter that encourages Virginia voters to reject a pair of proposed amendments to the state constitution is going viral, with more than 200 signatures as of Tuesday morning, and more expected in the days ahead.
The letter asks Virginians to reject both Ballot Question 1, which would enshrine the right to an abortion into the state constitution, and Ballot Question 2, which would “remove the ban on same-sex marriage” in Virginia.
“We believe these two amendments must be rejected for the Commonwealth of Virginia because they will harm our state as they are opposed to human flourishing and contrary to the Word of God,” the pastors write in their open letter. “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.”
So far, the letter is limited to clergy. If it were available for laity to sign, one signer told the Daily Signal, it might garner thousands more signatures.
“We think it is important for pastors to speak with one voice to the state of Virginia,” Pastor Ben Purves of Occoquan Bible Church told the Daily Signal. “We’ve given our lives to care for communities in Virginia.”
The group that organized the letter checks the credentials of potential signers before posting their names, and it encourages pastors to share the letter with their congregations.
The letter is complementary to, and was inspired by, a high-profile “Catholics Vote No” campaign launched by Bishop Michael Burbidge of the Diocese of Arlington. Burbidge asked priests in 70 parishes across Northern Virginia to read a letter at Mass that opposed the amendments. That effort built on a joint statement he issued in August with Richmond Bishop Barry Knestout.
While the Protestant pastors don’t have the same sort of hierarchy that the Catholic bishops were able to utilize, Purves said this letter is spreading through word of mouth as church leaders sign it and share it with fellow pastors across Virginia.
Three constitutional amendments appear on the ballot this year. In addition to the first two questions, the third proposal would restore the voting rights of felons as soon as they have completed their sentences.
All three amendments, plus one that was approved by voters in April but set aside by the state Supreme Court in May on a technicality, were placed on the ballot after being passed twice by the General Assembly, with the 2025 legislative election taking place in between those votes.
In their letter, the pastors expressed strong opposition to Ballot Question 1.
“It is moral distortion to present this violation of the Sixth Commandment as a moral good or as a fundamental right, and it is deceptive framing to present abortion’s destruction of life as healthcare,” the letter says. “Mothers should not destroy the life in their wombs, and medical professionals should care for every human life, especially the lives of the most vulnerable.”
As for Ballot Question 2, the letter says, “The term ‘marriage’ has only one meaning: the uniting of one man and one woman into a single, exclusive union, as delineated in Scripture. The institution of marriage is part of the bedrock of human civilization. It is presumptuous to imagine it can be redefined, and it is modern arrogance to believe this generation knows better than all past generations.”
Early voting is underway. According to the Virginia Public Access Project, some 220,969 voters had cast ballots through Sept. 28, well ahead of the pace set during the most recent midterm elections in 2022.
The deadline to register to vote is Oct. 23, 2026, with Election Day itself on Nov. 3.
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[ H/T The Daily Signal ]
