republic-os/legislation/us/states/va/2026/hb-781.md

---
type: "Bill"
title: "Constitutional amendment; fundamental right to reproductive freedom(submitting to qualified voters)."
description: "Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia relating to the right to make one's own decisions related to reproductive health care, including access to abortion. The amendment protects patients and their doctors and nurses from being punished for making such decisions. The amendment allows the state to place restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient's life or physical or mental health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive. This bill is identical to SB 449."
jurisdiction: "us/states/va"
legislature: "Virginia General Assembly"
session: "2026"
identifier: "HB 781"
citation: "Virginia HB 781 (2026)"
classification: ["constitutional amendment"]
subjects: []
status: "enacted"
primary_sponsors: ["Charniele L. Herring"]
version_count: 3
action_count: 22
vote_count: 4
first_action: "2026-01-13"
last_action: "2026-02-11"
source: "openstates"
source_identifier: "ocd-bill/4114393a-7396-4db5-9b4f-2b4650b17298"
source_url: "https://lis.virginia.gov/bill-details/20261/HB781"
source_hash: "d577b778c92247a54e37d9be6397884af6d0a5e7361e3f01a6eda37bdb733eba"
vintage: "2026-07-01"
source_snapshot: "https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump"
retrieved_at: "2026-07-06"
confidence: "reported"
tags: ["legislation", "bill", "us-va"]
---

# Virginia HB 781 (2026) — Constitutional amendment; fundamental right to reproductive freedom(submitting to qualified voters).

Constitutional amendment (voter referendum); fundamental right to reproductive freedom. Provides for a referendum at the November 3, 2026, election to approve or reject an amendment to the Constitution of Virginia relating to the right to make one's own decisions related to reproductive health care, including access to abortion. The amendment protects patients and their doctors and nurses from being punished for making such decisions. The amendment allows the state to place restrictions on access to abortion during the third trimester of pregnancy except when the patient's life or physical or mental health is at risk or the pregnancy cannot survive. This bill is identical to SB 449.

## Version chain

The bill's text revisions, in order — the diff chain from filing to enrollment.

1. **Introduced** (filed) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1085869.PDF)
2. **Chaptered** (committee substitute) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1169226.PDF)
3. **Enrolled** (enrolled) — [source](https://lis.blob.core.windows.net/files/1108633.PDF)

## Votes

- H VOTE: — **64–35** (pass) · lower
- Reported from Privileges and Elections — **7–6** (pass) · upper
- Reported from Privileges and Elections — **15–7** (pass) · lower
- Passage R — **21–19** (pass) · upper

## Sponsors

- Charniele L. Herring — primary (person)
- Alex Q. Askew — cosponsor (person)
- Amy J. Laufer — cosponsor (person)
- Atoosa R. Reaser — cosponsor (person)
- Betsy B. Carr — cosponsor (person)
- David A. Reid — cosponsor (person)
- Destiny LeVere Bolling — cosponsor (person)
- Elizabeth B. Bennett-Parker — cosponsor (person)
- Garrett McGuire — cosponsor (person)
- Holly M. Seibold — cosponsor (person)
- Irene Shin — cosponsor (person)
- Karen Keys-Gamarra — cosponsor (person)
- Kathy K.L. Tran — cosponsor (person)
- Katrina Callsen — cosponsor (person)
- Kelly K. Convirs-Fowler — cosponsor (person)
- Kimberly Pope Adams — cosponsor (person)
- Laura Jane Cohen — cosponsor (person)
- Leslie Chambers Mehta — cosponsor (person)
- Marcia S. "Cia" Price — cosponsor (person)
- Mark C. Downey — cosponsor (person)
- Marty Martinez — cosponsor (person)
- Michael B. Feggans — cosponsor (person)
- Rae Cousins — cosponsor (person)
- Shelly A. Simonds — cosponsor (person)

## Timeline

The legislative action history — every referral, reading, and vote.

- **2026-01-13** Prefiled and ordered printed; Offered 01-14-2026 26101671D `filing, introduction`
- **2026-01-13** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-23** Reported from Privileges and Elections (15-Y 7-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-27** Read first time `reading-1`
- **2026-01-28** Read second time and engrossed `reading-2`
- **2026-01-29** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB781)
- **2026-01-29** Read third time and passed House (64-Y 35-N 0-A) `passage, reading-3`
- **2026-01-29** Constitutional reading dispensed (on 1st reading)
- **2026-01-29** Referred to Committee on Privileges and Elections `referral-committee`
- **2026-01-30** Reported from Privileges and Elections (7-Y 6-N) `committee-passage`
- **2026-01-30** Read second time `reading-2`
- **2026-02-02** Read third time `reading-3`
- **2026-02-02** Passed Senate (21-Y 19-N 0-A) `passage`
- **2026-02-04** Enrolled `enrolled`
- **2026-02-04** Bill text as passed House and Senate (HB781ER) `passage`
- **2026-02-04** Signed by Speaker `passage`
- **2026-02-04** Signed by President `passage`
- **2026-02-04** Enrolled Bill communicated to Governor on February 04, 2026 `enrolled, executive-receipt`
- **2026-02-04** Governor's Action Deadline 11:59 p.m., February 11, 2026 `executive-receipt`
- **2026-02-06** Approved by Governor-Chapter 2 (Effective February 6, 2026) `executive-signature`
- **2026-02-06** Acts of Assembly Chapter text (CHAP0002)
- **2026-02-11** Fiscal Impact Statement from Department of Planning and Budget (HB781)

## Source

OpenStates / OpenCivicData bulk snapshot [2026-07-01](https://data.openstates.org/daily/2026-07-01/public.pgdump); origin `ocd-bill/4114393a-7396-4db5-9b4f-2b4650b17298`. Confidence: reported (aggregated from official Virginia legislature records).