(The Center Square) – Danville voters backed Virginia’s amendments on abortion access and voting rights on Election Day.

About 52% voted against removing the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.

All three passed statewide, but 21 cities and counties voted yes on some and no on others, according to a Virginia Public Access Project analysis of unofficial returns as of Wednesday. Every one of those communities backed the reproductive freedom amendment.

The amendment protects decisions about abortion, birth control, miscarriage care and other reproductive healthcare. It also changes when Virginia can prohibit an abortion in the third trimester.

Emporia and Charles City, Greensville and Prince Edward counties voted the same way as Danville, according to the analysis.

In places such as York and Goochland counties, voters backed the reproductive freedom and marriage amendments but said no to the voting rights measure.

Unofficial Virginia Department of Elections returns showed 62.9% voted yes on reproductive freedom, 57.9% on marriage and 56.9% on voting rights.

Under Virginia Code § 18.2-74, abortions after the second trimester generally must be performed by a licensed physician in a licensed or state-operated hospital. The physician and two consulting doctors must certify that continuing the pregnancy is likely to cause death or substantially and irremediably impair the patient’s physical or mental health.

The amendment’s text allows Virginia to regulate third-trimester abortions. The state cannot prohibit one if a physician determines it is medically needed to protect the patient’s life or physical or mental health, or finds the fetus is not viable.

The amendment also requires Virginia to show a compelling state interest and use the least restrictive means when limiting reproductive decisions. It limits that interest to maintaining or improving the health of the person seeking care while preserving that person’s ability to make their decisions.

At an Oct. 2 news conference, Dr. Christina Francis, who leads the American Association of Pro-Life Obstetricians and Gynecologists, warned that the amendment could allow abortions by unlicensed providers or in unlicensed facilities.

Virginians for Reproductive Freedom, which backed the amendment, said it would protect patients’ ability to make their healthcare decisions.

The Family Foundation of Virginia says a Tazewell County Circuit Court hearing on whether to block certification of the reproductive freedom vote was moved from Friday to Nov. 24.

The foundation’s legal arm, the Founding Freedoms Law Center, represents the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, the Virginia Medical Freedom Alliance and Bluefield Town Council member Meagan Kade.

The plaintiffs say the state failed to follow the required process and that the ballot wording misled voters.

The marriage amendment repeals the state’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage. The voting rights amendment restores voting rights automatically when someone is released from incarceration for a felony, according to the texts of the two measures