The Virginia state Senate completed the first step to send a set of amendments on abortion and marriage before voters in next year’s elections. Lawmakers pushed forward a trio of amendments. The abortion amendment would enshrine a “fundamental right” to abortion,

The votes followed an emotional floor debate on abortion — and an unusual parliamentary tussle over whether the Democratic leader had violated the chamber’s decorum,

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.