Lawmakers in Virginia have approved a constitutional amendment that would establish a right to abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy, taking the first step in their push to ensure that it goes before voters by the end of the decade.

The votes on these measures this past week are the first step to enshrining the measures in the state constitution.

The Democrat-led Virginia Senate has voted to enshrine the right to an abortion and to vote in the state's constitution.

RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — The Virginia Senate voted Tuesday to advance a trio of constitutional amendments to guarantee Virginians' right to abortion care, automatically restore voting rights to disenfranchised felons and remove an antiquated law banning same-sex marriage .

Three amendments are one step closer in a long journey to being enshrined in the Virginia Constitution after passing the Senate on Tuesday. The Senate paved the way to enshrine abortion, marriage equality,

The Virginia House and Senate each approved a constitutional amendment that would automatically restore voting rights to people convicted of felonies upon completion of their sentence. Lawmakers

Virginia’s Democratic-led Senate on Tuesday passed constitutional amendments on abortion and voting rights that were quickly lambasted by Republicans who could use the issues as the party tries to regain ground in November’s statewide elections.