VIRGINIA - Following the veto of the Right to Contraception Act, Winsome Earle-Sears’ vote against the bill, and her recent comments saying it was “pushing a political agenda,” Virginia women leaders called her out for her extreme position and agenda. 

The Dogwood: Virginia Dems to Sears: Reproductive rights should not be ‘political’  

• As Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears continues to downplay concerns about the state of reproductive rights in Virginia, state Democrats are not letting her – or voters – forget about her vote against a bill related to contraception.

• Earlier this year, during Virginia’s legislative session, Earle-Sears, who is the Republican nominee for governor this fall, cast a tie-breaking vote against a bill that would guarantee the right to access and use contraception in Virginia.

• Sarah Goodman, an organizer with the Democratic-aligned Red Wine & Blue, said on Wednesday’s call that due to a traumatic experience when she had her second child, doctors say she would face serious health risks were she to have another pregnancy.

• “I’m still relying on birth control, not just to prevent an unwanted pregnancy that could be disastrous, but also to help with the myriad of other symptoms that are common in women my age,” Goodman said. “I fail to understand how something that is so obviously a personal medical health care issue is being treated by Republicans as a partisan issue.”

• Democratic state Del. Candi Mundon King pushed back on Earle-Sears’ statement on Wednesday’s call with reporters. 

• “This is not a political agenda,” King said.