The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday rejected Virginia Democrats’ last-ditch bid to force the use of a gerrymandered congressional map.

The Democrats’ power grab came under heavy criticism from pro-life groups, who warned it would have eliminated pro-life votes in Congress by creating a 10-1 pro-abortion Democratic supermajority.

The justices turned aside without comment an emergency request from Attorney General Jay Jones, with no justices signaling dissent.

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The decision upholds the Virginia Supreme Court’s May 8 ruling that struck down the results of a redistricting referendum narrowly approved by voters 51% to 48% in a special election on April 21 that cost the state $5.2 million.

The state high court ruled that Democratic lawmakers violated the Virginia Constitution by rushing the measure onto the ballot in an accelerated special session. Referendums proposing constitutional amendments must pass the legislature twice, with an intervening election, before going to voters.

“This violation irreparably undermines the integrity of the resulting referendum vote and renders it null and void,” the Virginia Supreme Court said. “For this reason, the congressional district maps issued by this Court in 2021 pursuant to Article II, Section 6-A of the Constitution of Virginia remain the governing maps for the upcoming 2026 congressional elections.”

Under those 2021 maps, Democrats hold six of Virginia’s 11 U.S. House seats — a 6-5 pro-abortion advantage. The rejected maps would have spread slivers of heavily Democratic Northern Virginia across the state, leaving only one safely Republican district in the southwestern part of the state.

Republicans, who sued to stop the redistricting push, had called it “extreme, illegal and hyperpartisan.”

Leading pro-life groups had strongly opposed the Democrat-led effort as a power grab designed to entrench pro-abortion majorities in Virginia’s congressional delegation.

Jones had argued to the U.S. Supreme Court justices that the Virginia court had stretched the definition of Election Day too far. But the federal appeal faced significant hurdles, including the principle that the matter involved state law and the tight election calendar. Election officials had said final maps needed to be in place earlier this week.

Even under the preserved maps, Democrats remain hopeful of winning eight of the 11 seats.

Some Virginia Democrats had floated a separate proposal to force the retirement of the state’s justices and install a more favorable court, but that idea has lost momentum in recent days.

The Supreme Court’s action ensures the 2021 court-drawn maps will govern Virginia’s congressional elections this fall, preserving the current balance that includes five Republican-held districts viewed as pro-life strongholds.

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