RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — Democrats who control both houses of the Virginia Legislature hope to follow through on campaign promises, including becoming the first Southern state to expand constitutional protections for abortion access.

The Privileges and Elections Committee of the House of Parliament on Wednesday advanced three proposals for constitutional amendments, including a measure to protect reproductive rights. Its members also discussed measures to repeal a now-defunct state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and ways to overhaul Virginia. the process of restoring the right to vote for people who have served a sentence for crimes.

“This meeting was an important next step given the moment in history we are in,” said Democrat Del. Cia Price, chairman of the commission, during a press conference. “We have urgent threats to our freedoms that could impact constituents in all the districts we serve.”

The sometimes raucous meeting will pave the way for the House and Senate to take up the resolutions early next year after lawmakers tabled the measures last January. Democrats have previously said that moving was standard practicegiven that changes are usually introduced in odd-numbered years. But Republican Minority Leader Todd Gilbert said Wednesday that the committee should not have considered the amendments until next year’s legislative session. He said the resolutions, particularly the abortion amendment, needed further vetting.

“Nobody still serving can remember it ever being done this way,” Gilbert said after the meeting. “Certainly not for something so important. This is a very big and serious problem.”

The Democrats’ legislative range comes after Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, to the consternation of voting rights advocates, canceled a process to restore civil rights to people after they complete felony sentences. Virginia is the only state to permanently bar anyone convicted of a felony from voting unless a governor restores their rights.

“This amendment creates a process that is limited by transparent rules and criteria that will apply to everyone — not left up to one person,” Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, sponsor of the voting rights resolution, which passed. party lines, said at the press conference.

Although the Democrats have they battled the governor over their legislative agendaconstitutional amendments introduced by lawmakers do not require his signature, allowing the Democratic-led House and Senate to bypass Youngkin’s blessing.

Instead, the General Assembly must pass proposed amendments twice in at least two years, with legislative elections between each state session. After that, the public can vote by referendum on the issues. The fraught process will likely depend on the success of all three amendments on the ability of Democrats to maintain their advantage in the House and Senate, where they hold slim majorities.

This is not the first time that MPs have tried to support the three amendments. Republicans on a House subcommittee killed a constitutional amendment to restore voting rights in 2022, a year after the measure passed in a Democratic-led House. The the same subcommittee also struck down the legislation supporting a constitutional amendment to repeal a 2006 amendment banning marriage equality.

On Wednesday, a bipartisan group of lawmakers voted 16-5 in favor of legislation protecting same-sex marriage, with four Republicans supporting the resolution.

“At least the voters passed that (amendment) in 2006, and since then we’ve had 100,000 voters a year come voting age,” Del said. Mark Sickles, who sponsored the amendment as one of the first openly gay men to serve. in the General Assembly. “A lot of people have changed their minds about that as the years have gone by.”

A constitutional amendment protecting abortion was previously approved by the Senate in 2023, but died in a Republican-led House. On Wednesday, the amendment was adopted along party lines.

If successful, the resolution proposed by House Majority Leader Charniele Herring would be part of a growing trend of reproductive rights ballot questions being asked of voters. Since 2022, 18 questions have been asked of US voters, and they have sided with abortion rights supporters 14 times.

Voters have approved constitutional amendments guaranteeing the right to abortion until fetal viability in nine states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Ohio and Vermont. Voters also passed an abortion-rights measure in Nevada in 2024, but it must pass again in 2026 to be added to the state constitution.

As lawmakers debated the measure, about 18 members spoke. Mercedes Perkins, 38 weeks pregnant, described the importance of women making decisions about their own bodies. Rhea Simon, another Virginia resident, described anecdotally how reproductive health care shaped her life.

Then, suddenly, over 50 people lined up to speak against the abortion amendment.

“Let’s do the compassionate thing and take care of mothers and all unborn children,” resident Sheila Furey said.

The audience gave a collective “Amen” followed by a round of applause.

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Associated Press writer Geoff Mulvihill in Cherry Hill, New Jersey, contributed to this report.

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Olivia Diaz is a member of The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative Corps.