The Virginia Independent: Winsome Earle-Sears Opposes the Legal Protection of Access to Contraception and IVF

May 12, 2025

New reporting exposed Sears’ handwritten note that she’s “morally opposed” to protecting reproductive freedom

VIRGINIA - Reporting from the Virginia Independent details how Winsome Earle-Sears is “morally opposed” to protecting reproductive freedom including contraception, abortion, and IVF after Sears left a handwritten note on a constitutional amendment. This follows Sears casting the tie-breaking vote against a bill that would guarantee Virginia women access to contraception and birth control. 

The Virginia Independent: Winsome Earle-Sears opposes the legal protection of access to contraception and IVF

  • Virginia Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has repeatedly opposed legislation that would protect reproductive rights, including access to in vitro fertilization and contraception.
  • Earle-Sears did not respond to a request for comment for this story.
  • Her Democratic opponent, former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, said in a May 2 press statement: “I believe in Virginians’ fundamental right to privacy — and I know we must make sure that right is protected for future generations. Virginians can feel confident that when I am Governor, I will sign the Right to Contraception Act into law — and I will always defend their reproductive freedoms.”
  • On May 8, the online news site Virginia Mercury reported that Earle-Sears had put down in writing her opposition to a proposed constitutional amendment to enshrine in Virginia’s Bill of Rights [...]
  • After the Legislature took the first step toward approving the proposal in February, Earle-Sears, while signing it as president of the Senate, hand wrote on the enrolled resolution, “I am morally opposed to this bill: no protection for the child.”
  • On the May 7 Democratic Party call, Del. Destiny LeVere Bolling, a co-patron of the contraception bill and the reproductive rights amendment, criticized the lieutenant governor’s vote against the contraception bill: “Sears’ vote and her dangerous record on the issue is just a reminder that contraception would just be the start for her. Sears has even said she is ‘standing shoulder to shoulder’ in the fight against IVF, whereas I wouldn’t have been able to have my daughter during [the 2025 legislative] session without it.”
  • Sarah Goodman of Roanoke, the mother of 19- and 23-year-old sons, said contraception may have saved her life: “I am very aware of the fact that, had I not had access to contraception after they were born, I might not have been around to raise them. My pregnancies were both very difficult, both ended in emergency cesarean sections. And my last C-section was very traumatic for everyone in that operating room. When my doctor came to check on me later, she said, ‘Sarah, 100 years ago you would have been one of those women who died in childbirth, and I cannot recommend that you undertake the risk of another pregnancy.’”
  • Goodman added. “Now Sears is saying that guaranteed access to birth control is ‘pushing a political agenda.’ As a woman who medically needs contraception, I can tell you it’s not.”
  • Asked by WRIC-TV in Richmond whether a woman’s access to abortion in Virginia is on the ballot in this November’s election, Spanberger said on May 8: “It is, because my opponent has made clear that she would put further restrictions on a woman’s access to reproductive health care, and in fact, she’s voted to not actually guarantee right to contraception. [...]”

Latest News

New Polling Finds Majority of Voters Have Serious Concerns About Winsome Earle-Sears Support of Trump's Tax Bill

July 21, 2025
Sears backed the bill stripping 322,000 Virginians of healthcare and will force rural hospitals to close VIRGINIA - New polling reported by Politico finds that the majority of Virginia voters… Read More

After Sears Backs Trump's Attacks on Virginia Jobs, Unemployment Rises in the Commonwealth

July 21, 2025
8 News Richmond: Virginia was the only state to see unemployment rise in June VIRGINIA - New reporting from 8 News Richmond and the Richmond Times-Dispatch details that Virginia was the only state… Read More

Winsome, Lose Some: Sears Concerned That Attacks on Jobs Hurt Her Campaign, Not That They Hurt Virginians

July 18, 2025
VIRGINIA - This week, Virginia continued to deal with the fallout of the Trump tax bill that Winsome Earle-Sears has praised, and new audio revealed Sears’ only issue with Trump's attacks on… Read More

DPVA Launches New Ad Highlighting Sears' Record Backing Trump's Attacks on Jobs

July 17, 2025
CNBC: Virginia drops in America’s Top States for Business rankings. Federal job cuts are a big reason VIRGINIA – Following Virginia losing its “Top State for Business” ranking… Read More

As Virginians Face Job Loss and Threats to Health Care, Governor Youngkin Chases Out-of-State Headlines

July 17, 2025
While more than 322,000 Virginians fear losing their health care, rural hospitals face cuts or closure, and Donald Trump continues to attack the Commonwealth’s economy and workforce, Governor… Read More