RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- After a long and spirited debate, Virginia House Democrats have advanced a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the state constitution. “Let’s pass this resolution so that people who probably couldn’t find a uterus with a map are not making decisions about women's healthcare,” Delegate Candi Mundon King (D-Prince William) said on the House floor. “It doesn’t embody Roe v. Wade in the least,” House Minority Leader Todd Gilbert (R-Shenandoah) said. “In fact, it goes well beyond all of that to become the most extreme abortion measure in the nation and possibly the civilized world.” The amendment gives people the “fundamental right to reproductive freedom” by protecting access to abortion in the first two trimesters while allowing the state to enact some restrictions in the third trimester. Democrats say the measure was inspired by other states imposing what they call extreme abortion bans. “Extreme is forcing a 10-year victim of rape to carry her rapist's child to term. Extreme is forcing a woman to carry a fetus inside of them that is gone,” said Mundon King. However, Republicans say the amendment goes further than current state law by reducing the number of physicians required to sign off on a third-trimester abortion, if the health of the mother is at risk or the fetus is not viable, from three doctors to one. In addition, Republicans expressed concerns about the amendment superseding a current Virginia law that requires parental consent for an abortion for anyone under 18. “I am required to be present for every single one of my children's doctor appointments today. For everything as mundane as a cold, to annual routine physicals to play in school sports, but this amendment would allow my daughter and countless others to make a decision that could change the course of her life without ever consulting me,” said Delegate Carrie Coyner (R-Chesterfield.) While the House’s approval is a significant step, there are still several more hurdles for the proposed amendment to clear over the next two years before any changes to the constitution can be made.