Legal challenge seeking to block Virginia’s reproductive rights constitutional amendment dismissed
A Campbell County Circuit Court judge dismissed an effort that sought to invalidate the amendment Tuesday
One of two lawsuits challenging Virginia’s pending reproductive rights constitutional amendment was struck down Tuesday in Campbell County Circuit Court.
Virginians are slated to approve or reject a measure to enshrine reproductive rights into the state’s constitutions this November. If approved, it would protect access to abortions, fertility treatments and contraception in the state.
Charla Bansley, a Bedford County supervisor, filed the lawsuit this March, arguing the state violated its constitutional amendment process because House of Delegates Clerk Paul Nardo failed to send copies of the amendment to circuit court clerks across the state.
The requirement for clerks to post amendment language outside of courthouses was in past years intended to increase public awareness of pending referendums.
Lawyers for Nardo argued during Tuesday’s hearing that in modern times, information is more readily available through news organizations and the internet — which is why state lawmakers repealed the requirement earlier this year. The repeal took effect July 1.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Erin McNeil told the court that people have been able to learn about pending constitutional amendments “with the internet in our pockets,” she said in reference to cell phones.
Bansley’s lawyers referenced Article 12, Section 1 of the constitution during the Tuesday hearing multiple times — which outlines the state legislature’s responsibility to submit pending amendments to voters “in such manner as it shall prescribe.”
Because the constitutional amendment — which had to pass the legislature two years in a row before appearing on statewide ballots — occurred while the repealed state code was still on the books, Bansley and her attorneys said the process should be invalidated.
Though the repeal did not take effect until this summer, McNeil countered that lawmakers have authority to adjust the constitution and prescribe how they do it.
“How can the General Assembly have this authority to prescribe a process but not have the authority to change that process?” McNeil asked.
The case was originally filed in Bedford County. Although it was dismissed in Campbell County, Bansley’s attorneys signaled they will appeal to the state’s highest court.
“The reality is this was always going to go higher,” lawyer Daniel Schmidt of Liberty Counsel said. “No question, this is heading to the (Virginia) Supreme Court.”
Virginia’s marriage equality and voting rights amendments advanced alongside the reproductive rights one. Legal experts aren’t certain if those measures would be impacted if the high court grants a favorable ruling for Bansley in the reproductive rights amendment case appeal.
Even if voters approve the amendment this fall, a favorable Bansley appeal might make it struck down by the state’s supreme court, which ruled retroactively to block the state’s voter-approved congressional redistricting amendment earlier this year.
The 2026 general election is Nov. 3.
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