DGA Statement on Republican Threats to Abortion Three Years After Dobbs

Jun 24, 2025

DGA Statement on Republican Threats to Abortion Three Years After Dobbs

Washington Post: “Abortion is already a key issue in the top two races on the ballot this year” in Virginia and New Jersey

On the three year anniversary of the Dobbs decision, DGA Communications Director Sam Newton released the following statement on Republican threats to abortion and the stakes of governor’s races on access to reproductive care:

“With 38 critical governors’ races over the next two years and Donald Trump and Republicans threatening access to reproductive care at every turn, electing Democratic governors matters now more than ever. Protecting abortion rights is a critical issue in Virginia and New Jersey, where both Winsome Sears and Jack Cittarelli have embraced dangerous and deeply unpopular anti-abortion agendas that voters have rejected time and time again. The DGA is going on offense to hold Republican candidates for governor accountable for their extreme views and we will make sure that ripping away reproductive rights continues to be a losing issue for them.”

Here’s what you need to know about the Republicans’ positions on abortion and the DGA’s winning record:

The Washington Post today highlighted how “abortion is already a key issue in the top two races on the ballot this year” in Virginia and New Jersey — the first governor’s race in these states since Roe v. Wade was overturned and access to abortion became a state issue.

In Virginia, Winsome Sears holds extreme positions “to Youngkin’s right” on reproductive rights, supported a near-total abortion ban before most women know they are pregnant, and “noted her personal objection” to Virginia’s proposed constitutional amendment protecting reproductive rights in a “handwritten note.”

As Lieutenant Governor presiding over the state Senate, Sears “couldn’t resist” casting the tie-breaking vote against legislation to guarantee the right to access contraception and birth control. The bill was later gutted then vetoed by Gov. Youngkin, leaving the door open to future attacks on Virginians’ access to contraception and birth control.

In New Jersey, Jack Ciattarelli supports abortion restrictions pushed by “two of [New Jersey’s] most conservative Republican state senators,” has praised Trump’s Supreme Court nominees who overturned Roe v. Wade and promised to stack New Jersey’s state Supreme Court with far-right judges, and has vowed to defund Planned Parenthood.

Holding Republicans accountable for their extreme agenda on reproductive rights proved to be a winning issue for the DGA in 2022 and again in 2024, when Governor Josh Stein won his race in North Carolina against a far-right anti-abortion extremist.

###