Republican Winsome Earl Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger debate abortion in Virginia

PETERSBURG, Va. (AP) — Rae Pickett took the stage fronting Rachel Hines wearing a pink T-shirt that signaled the issue she hoped to make to Virginia voters when she knocked on doors on a sunny Saturday in early October.

“Abortion is on the ballot,” the letter read.

“She who kneels before God can stand before anyone,” Haynes answered Beckett’s knock on the door of her home in Petersburg, Virginia, with a charming smile and her own T-shirt.

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The ensuing polite exchange between Pickett and Haynes laid bare the complexity of one of the most glaring political differences between the two women vying to become Virginia’s first female governor — Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Republican Winsome Earl Sears. The winner will likely affect abortion law in the only Southern state that has maintained widespread access to abortion since the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down the national right to the procedure.

Spanberger, a former congresswoman, supports the proposed state constitutional amendment, which would only reach voters if Democrats maintain their majority in the House of Delegates. Earle Sears, Lieutenant Governor of Virginia, has been an outspoken opponent of abortion rights throughout her political career.

Both candidates have described the other as strangers to abortion. But they also focus on other issues, such as Spanberger’s focus on economics and Earl Sears’ opposition to the rights of transgender people.

Pickett, who works for Planned Parenthood Advocates of Virginia, specifically went to the homes of voters who had not yet cast a ballot in a Democratic-leaning neighborhood. She quickly encouraged those who responded to vote. If these people were supporting Democrats in a competitive House of Delegates district — regardless of their reasons — I knew they were actually voting for abortion rights, too.

“I understand that in some circumstances it is necessary and in other circumstances it is preventable,” Haynes said when asked about her views on abortion.

“This is hard,” she added with a sigh.

Clear choices facing Virginians

Nationally, abortion rights advocates in Virginia are watching for clues about how the issue will impact the 2026 midterm campaigns, with control of Congress and dozens of statehouses at risk.

“We know that the election here signals the tone and temperature of what other elections to come could be,” said Olivia Turner, president of the Virginia Society for Human Life, which opposes abortion rights.

About 6 in 10 Virginia voters in the 2024 presidential election said abortion should be legal in all or most cases, according to AP VoteCast, a poll of interviews with registered voters. More than half of Virginia voters said they oppose banning most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy nationwide. Just under half said they favored such a restriction.

Polls also indicate that most people believe abortion should be allowed in some circumstances but not others, which is roughly in line with national numbers: 62% of American voters said last November that abortion should be legal in at least “most” cases.

In their recent debate, both candidates touched on the nuanced views of voters like Haynes.

Earle Sears sidestepped a question about abortion, which she once called “evil” in a clip Spanberger featured in an ad.

“That’s not my view. It would be what the majority of Virginians want,” Earl Sears said. “There is a constitutional amendment, and the voters are going to make that decision.”

Earl Sears insisted that Spanberger supports unrestricted access to abortion.

Spanberger remained silent for several seconds after Earl Sears suggested she supports letting full-born babies die.

“Abigail?” Earl Sears said as the Democrat shrugged off the attack.

Spanberger responded by pointing to women who suffered life-threatening and, in some cases, fatal infections due to pregnancy complications but were unable to obtain medically necessary abortions in states that adopted restrictions after the 2022 Supreme Court decision.

“Women died,” Spanberger said. “If my opponent becomes governor, this is what she will do to Virginia.”

“Don’t lie like that,” Earl Sears responded.

When asked about the restrictions, Spanberger first chose the legal explanation for the Supreme Court justices overturning the “Roe standard.” She affirmed her support for the constitutional amendment, which she believes will protect this standard. Under pressure from supervisors, she upheld an existing Virginia law that includes parental consent for minors seeking abortions and certain controls on third-trimester procedures.

The constitutional amendment is pending before lawmakers

Virginia Republicans assert that the amendment threatens existing restrictions, especially the parental consent law.

“The language is very vague,” Turner said, arguing that women and minors could challenge any legal restrictions as a violation of a state constitutional right.

The proposed amendment requires further approval from lawmakers before it reaches voters. Abortion rights supporters have a one-vote lead in the House of Delegates.

Republicans have drawn attention to allegations that a Fairfax County school social worker helped students obtain abortion care in 2021, which officials called untrue in their interim findings. The allegations are being investigated by Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration and Fairfax County Public Schools, under the supervision of the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Senate Health Committee.

“I think everyone in the commonwealth can agree that fathers should know what their daughters are doing,” Del. Philip Scott said at a Mothers for Freedom town hall in Fairfax.

Right now, Republicans in Virginia have little hope of imposing stricter abortion restrictions, because the Democratic majority in the state Senate will not be on the ballot this year. But in a state that elected Youngkin four years ago, voters could eventually tie a governor like Earl Sears to a GOP-majority Legislature, making room for tougher restrictions.

Linking abortion to parental rights, the issue that led to Youngkin’s victory, resonated with some conservative parents.

Stephanie Lundquist Arora, who spoke at the town hall, likened a women’s history presentation on abortion at a district high school to “a left-wing translation of the alphabet.”

“Starting with the letter A means abortion, with a picture of a coat hanger,” Lundquist-Arora said. The room gasped.

Virginia becomes a “destination state”

Demand for abortion has surged in Virginia as other Southern states have imposed new restrictions or effective bans.

“We are a destination country,” Turner lamented.

During fiscal year 2021-22, the organization helped 1,600 callers access abortion care and provided $578,000 to abortion clinics, said Autumn Celeste, spokeswoman for the Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Abortion Fund. Between 2024 and 2025, the clinic supported 2,400 callers, which represents little strain on the system, Celeste said.

More than 17% of the most recent recipients were from Florida, Georgia and North Carolina.

Despite the potential consequences in Virginia and beyond, abortion is among many issues voters are considering.

About three-quarters of Virginia voters in the 2024 presidential election said abortion policy had an impact on the candidates they supported in that election, and about 7 in 10 said abortion policy was an important factor in their vote. However, 4 in 10 Virginia voters said “the economy and jobs” was the most important issue facing the country at the time, and about 2 in 10 said it was immigration. About 1 in 10 Virginia voters said abortion was the nation’s top issue, and a similar percentage talked about health care.

Back in Petersburg, Hines said the cost of living worries her. She said she would vote for Spanberger even though she disagreed with Democrats on some social issues.

However, her feelings about the abortion were complicated.

“I don’t think I have the right to judge,” she said. “Only God can judge.”

Associated Press writer Lynley Sanders in Washington contributed to this report.