Spanberger supports reproductive rights; Earle-Sears has history of opposing them

Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger criticized the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, applauded it. 

In a campaign where the two candidates for Virginia governor disagree on many issues, their contrast on abortion is among the starkest. 

Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger promises to defend Virginians’ rights to access contraception, get an abortion, and access in vitro fertilization (IVF). The Republican nominee, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, has a long history of wanting to restrict access to abortions. 

While serving as the US representative for Virginia’s 7th congressional district, Spanberger voted in support of legislation that would have created federal legal protections for the right to provide and access abortions. Such legislation took on greater urgency after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, a ruling that Spanberger has criticized. 

“It falls on all of us to defend our neighbors, protect all rights enshrined under the right to privacy, and make sure women are never criminalized for making decisions about their own bodies,” Spanberger said after Roe was overturned. 

While Spanberger wants to fortify Virginia’s status as a southern state where reproductive rights are protected, Earle-Sears’ record suggests she wants to do just the opposite. 

Earle-Sears earlier this year took the unusual step of leaving a handwritten note on legislation advancing a state constitutional amendment to protect reproductive rights that read: “I am morally opposed to this bill; no protection for the child.” The Virginia Mercury’s Charlotte Rene Woods first reported on Earle-Sears’ note.

Earle-Sears also celebrated the US Supreme Court ruling overturning Roe.

“I applaud the Court for recognizing this wrong and having the courage to correct it,” she said in a statement at the time. The consequences of that decision have been dire. Abortion is completely banned in 12 states. Four other states have bans on abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, and two have banned abortion after 12 weeks of pregnancy.

While running for lieutenant governor in 2021, Earle-Sears said she would support a six-week abortion ban similar to what Texas adopted, and told The Winchester Star that she considers abortion “genocide.” In 2022, when Gov. Glenn Youngkin tried – and ultimately failed – to establish a 15-week abortion ban in Virginia, Earle-Sears said she supported it.

A recent poll by the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University found that women’s reproductive rights is a top issue for voters. 

Virginia Democrats are in the process of advancing a resolution to add reproductive rights to the state constitution. The decision would ultimately fall to voters in the form of a state referendum. Another VCU poll released in February that 62% of Virginians support adding the right to an abortion to the state constitution.