Thousands came to the Capitol in Richmond Wednesday morning to rally against abortion access in Virginia. Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears, who is running for governor, was the keynote speaker at the event.
“All those who are for abortion are already born,” Sears said to the crowd, quoting former President Ronald Reagan.
She also spoke about a specific Republican amendment killed by Democrats during session this year.
“When I and my fellow senators this year, when we saw the bills coming through, and when we were trying to put guardrails around it, they killed every one of the amendments,” Sears continued. “And the amendment simply said, if the baby is born alive after an abortion, then the baby is now a patient. The baby is now a patient in deserving of healthcare, and they voted it down. They voted it down, and tears came to my eyes when I put the vote and they voted against it.”
Republican gubernatorial hopefuls Amanda Chase and Dave LaRock were also in attendance but did not have the chance to speak to the crowd.
They are working to gather 10,000 valid signatures, including 400 from each congressional district, by Thursday at 5 p.m.
Chase said the effort is going great as her team asked attendees to give their signatures.
In an update to supporters sent out Wednesday morning, Chase gave a detailed update on her efforts.
“As of this morning, we have met the 400 minimum signature requirement for 5 of the 11 congressional districts and we are close in most of the rest,” Chase wrote. “We still need help in Congressional District 3, which includes Norfolk and Newport News, and in District 2, which is the Chesapeake/Virginia Beach area and finally Arlington and Loudoun County.”
LaRock declined to be interviewed by Virginia Scope.
Gov. Glenn Youngkin also joined the march and could be heard saying to attendees that they should support Sears for governor.
However, he did not speak publicly.
Photos from the event:
