For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.”
Psalm 139:13-14a (ESV)
“He answered, ‘Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.’”
Matthew 19:4-6 (ESV) (words of Jesus)
In November, two very significant amendments to the Virginia state constitution will be on the ballot. They directly undo aspects of existing Virginia law that are in keeping with Christian moral virtue. Here is a link to the exact language of the two amendments (LINK). The first proposed abortion amendment ensures the nearly unconditional right to abort unborn children all the way to the point of a full-term (third trimester) pregnancy. The second marriage amendment does away with the current Virginia constitutional language and replaces it with general language allowing any two people to be married.
The Amendments: Let’s consider the first amendment. This amendment is a word salad of doublespeak. Doublespeak is when you use words that mean the exact opposite of what you are saying but the words chosen are more appealing to the audience. Double-speak is a form of deception. This amendment uses words like “reproductive freedom” and “reproductive healthcare.” There is no lack of reproductive freedom in America. A couple may have a child anytime they choose. The past “one-child policy” of communist China is an example of restricted reproductive freedom. Also, there is no shortage of reproductive healthcare in Virginia. Hospitals and obstetricians are readily available. What the authors of this amendment are really seeking is complete freedom to abort (kill) unborn children at any time, for any reason, during any period of a pregnancy – that is what they mean by “reproductive freedom.” The authors of this amendment also want abortion facilities spread thickly across Virginia where women can abort their unborn children conveniently and at low cost. That is what they mean by accessible “reproductive healthcare.”
The abortion amendment speaks to “restricting” access to third-trimester abortion but then gives four broad exceptions for why a woman (or “patient” as the amendment states – carefully never using the words woman, child, or baby) could still electively abort (kill) her child up to a full-term pregnancy. The broadest exception is “risk to mental health.” This could mean anything. Under this broad language no child is safe in the womb.
[NOTE: This amendment is addressing elective abortion, meaning the mother chooses to abort (kill) the child for some reason of her choosing. The other way in which a child’s life can be medically ended during pregnancy relates to rare instances where the mother really will die if she attempts to carry the child to term. In such instances, it is not morally obligatory that the mother continue with the pregnancy, resulting in the death of the mother and also the child. In such instances, the child is delivered from the uterus by induced labor, not aborted (dismembered and suctioned out). The child is born but is too young to live. The child does not live but is given medical care and not aborted. This abortion amendment is working to ensure that any mother can electively choose to kill her child any time before the end of pregnancy.]
The second proposed marriage amendment takes the current Virginia constitutional language that defines marriage between a man and a woman and broadens it to include any two people – no matter what gender state they are in. The amendment does include clear language of religious liberty to exempt ministers from being forced to perform weddings counter to their religious beliefs.
The Counter Arguments: As Christians, what should we think about these amendments? Concerning the abortion amendment, Christians have been defending the right to life for unborn children for many decades, and we must keep making the case. An unborn child is a person, just not fully formed or yet out in the world. Christians do not define personhood by function or utility. This means that Christians give full personhood value to all human life upon conception regardless of age, race, gender, or function. Concerning function, or usefulness, a person is not less valuable (expendable) if they are not able to live independently or produce goods and services in the labor market. Unborn children, the sick or injured, the very elderly, the severely mentally handicapped are all dependent on others for daily care in one degree or another. When personhood is decided by utility, all the ‘dependent’ people are soon deemed less than full persons and arguments are made that they should die. Christians reject this thinking. We are instead instructed by Jesus to care for the children, the weak, the sick, and the needy (Acts 6, Galatians 2:10, 1 Timothy 5, James 1:27).
In the Christian worldview, children are always seen as a blessing and we strive always to care for and preserve their lives – without exception. The idea of electively killing your child (choosing to kill your unborn child, when that child could have lived) is the sin of murder. Abortion must never be considered an option, no matter the origin of the pregnancy. Abortion will never heal or improve a difficult life situation.
The marriage amendment is rather straightforward. Legislators from Virginia don’t care what God has made or how Jesus has defined marriage. They like the idea of marriage, but reject the idea that marriage is defined by God and not by culture. Marriage was divinely defined as existing between a biological man and a biological woman from the creation of Adam and Eve before sin entered the world. God has created the world with both creation order and moral order. We cannot undo either. If we choose to redefine the moral order of what God has declared to be good and right, there will be unavoidable decline into depravity, moral chaos, and being turned over to this wickedness by God (Romans 1). Marriage is no small matter. It is the most fundamental of human relationships. Marriage is the foundation and bedrock of local society and the larger state. Redefining this relationship to reject God’s purposes will ultimately redefine the family and society, eventually destroying both.
These two amendments together powerfully work to kill children and redefine society. As we see these two non-Christian platforms already worked out to an advanced degree in many European countries, they always result in the same ends: less marriage, fewer children, and population decline resulting in economic and religious decline. In short, biblical Christianity leads to the thriving of society and abortion / open marriage culture leads quickly to societal decline.
I could go on at length as to why people advocate the positions put forward in these amendments, but all the reasons ultimately boil down to people living in rebellion against God and His moral laws. It comes down to people rejecting what God has said is right and good (related to personhood and marriage) and replacing it with what they define as right and good. However, when God is in complete authority over us, to replace His moral order is to rebel against Him. Loving God involves obeying Him, and obeying God brings the blessing of living in harmony with His creation and purposes. Living in rebellion against God brings discipline, correction, and ultimately judgment.
What should we do? First, we should speak of the Gospel and labor to persuade our friends and neighbors to believe in Jesus Christ. As people recognize and confess their sins and believe in Jesus Christ, their sins are forgiven and their hearts change toward God. People who believe in Jesus recognize Him as Creator and want to obey His will as an act of worship. Christians do not kill their unborn children and do not want to marry outside of God’s original design. Christians want to submit to what He has ordained as morally right. We do not live in a moral vacuum, but in a world ordered by God physically and morally. The two are linked. God’s moral law is universal. When we rebel against the moral order of God, it has consequences in our everyday lives and eternally.
Second, we should pray. Rather than fret (Psalm 37) or get angry, we should pray for the Lord to bring conviction and moral sense to those who advocate for evil. May the Lord awaken the conscience of millions of people in America to see the evil of killing the unborn and redefining the sexual moral order through redefining marriage.
Third, we must be willing to act to help reverse the evils spoken about above. For instance, we must personally be willing to adopt a child if a mother chooses not to abort that child but cannot care for the child. If the parents of the child will not, or cannot, face the long-term responsibility of raising the child, we must step into the responsibility and blessing. If we will not adopt orphaned children, then we are only covering half of the pro-life position (the easier half).
Concerning marriage, those of us who are married must set good examples of marital love and stable families. Younger generations need to see loving and strong examples of Christian marriage. This example will strengthen all arguments that Christian marriage is right, and God’s design.
Fourth, we should vote (Tuesday, November 3, 2026) and speak about these things publicly. In America, we have the privilege to cast a vote and participate in shaping our governing laws. We have the opportunity to speak freely and to make a public statement about what is right and wrong. We should make gracious and respectful efforts (1 Peter 3:15-16) to shape public morality according to biblical virtue. We should not be silent. Let us push back the oncoming moral chaos of godless secularism. Let us believe in Jesus and live as His disciples in all areas of our lives.
May the hearts of the people be turned to the Lord,
Pastor Vic