8News Exclusive: Earle-Sears declines to say if she’ll sign a bill limiting abortion access if elected governor

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- The Republican nominee for governor, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, is declining to say if she’ll sign a bill limiting a woman’s access to abortion, if she’s elected governor.

The question was hypothetical, as no bills were introduced in this year's General Assembly session to limit a woman's access to abortion at 15 weeks or less.

Earle-Sears was posed the question during an exclusive interview with 8News Capitol Bureau Reporter Tyler Englander.

Below is a transcript of their entire exchange on abortion rights.

Tyler Englander: "I want to ask you about reproductive rights. As you know, currently in Virginia, abortions are legal in the first two trimesters and in the third trimester if the life of the mother is at risk or if the fetus isn’t viable. You have previously in the past expressed support for limiting a woman’s access to an abortion, whether when a fetal heartbeat can be detected."

Editor's Note: Although a non-viable fetus can put a mother’s life at risk, Virginia law does not allow for a third-trimester abortion solely based on a non-viable pregnancy. 

Winsome Earle-Sears: "I never said limiting access. I don't think anybody would be surprised that I’m pro-life.  What I am saying is we will support a mother, we will support life, and, of course, what I want to know from my opponent is, what is the limit? Because what she wants is that you could just take my underage child, my underage daughter, across state lines for an abortion, and then just bring her back home as if nothing happened. I am the parent. I am always my child’s parent, and how dare any lawmaker, any politician get between me and my child? And then, of course, I want to know why is it that black women make up 7% of the child birthing population, and yet we have 40% of the abortions? Who doesn’t want us to have babies? So my, my, my challenge to my opponent is, tell me what happens to the baby who is born on the abortion table because we have not said it. We have tried to put guardrails around that so that if the baby is born after an abortion, that the baby is a human being. It’s not a lizard, it’s a baby. So what are we going to do? Do we just leave the baby on the table to die? What do we do? Do what? She has not stated that. That’s what I want to know from her."

Tyler Englander: "In 2023, you favored limiting abortion at 15 weeks? If a bill like that were to come to your desk as governor, would you limit a woman's access to an abortion at 15 weeks or less?"

Winsome Earle-Sears: "We’re not limiting access at all. That’s not what we’re saying. As a matter of fact, what we really need to do is go get together and try to figure out, where is the limit? Where? At what point? Because I’m noticing -- I just saw something I read where a baby, at seven months, was operated on in the womb, and the womb was sewn back up. And so what are we saying here? We need to figure this out."

Tyler Englander: "Where is the limit for you personally, or what would you advocate for as governor?"

Winsome Earle-Sears: "Well, I’ve already answered that question. We have to figure it out. What I want to know is, what is my opponent's limit? Because an anything goes, where you can have an abortion up until the time the child can be born, and afterwards, what happens to the baby after an abortion?"

8News reached out to Democratic nominee Abigail Spanberger for a response to Earle-Sears' claims. A spokesperson shared the following statement on Monday, May 19:

“Abigail believes that extreme politicians should never dictate families’ personal medical decisions — and as Governor, she would protect Virginians’ right to privacy. The contrast between Abigail and her opponent is clear. Not only did Winsome Earle-Sears celebrate the fall of Roe v. Wade, but she vocally supported a near-total abortion ban in Virginia — without exceptions for incest or women who are raped. That’s far too extreme for Virginia.” 

You can catch our exclusive interview with Lieutenant Governor Earle-Sears on Tuesday on 8News at 6.