The Advocate: “Sears donated thousands of dollars to a far-right Christian organization that has described in vitro fertilization as ‘child trafficking’”

From DPVA:

NEW: “Winsome Earle-Sears’s Recent Donations Reveal She’s More Extreme Than Donald Trump on IVF”

The Advocate: “Sears donated thousands of dollars to a far-right Christian organization that has described in vitro fertilization as ‘child trafficking’”

VIRGINIA – New reporting from The Advocate details how Winsome Earle-Sears is more conservative than Donald Trump as she opposes IVF and donates to a “far-right” organization that has described IVF as “child trafficking.” The reporting also points to leaked audio in which a Sears staff member brags she is “more conservative than Donald Trump.”

The Advocate: VA MAGA Republican Winsome Earle-Sears’s recent donations reveal she’s more extreme than Donald Trump on IVF

• […] Newly unearthed campaign finance records, obtained by The Advocate, show that Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle‑Sears donated thousands of dollars to a far-right Christian organization that has described in vitro fertilization as “child trafficking.”

• The revelation comes just as President Donald Trump and his administration announced that they are working to expand access to fertility treatments, bringing to light a stark ideological incompatibility within the GOP.

• On September 29, Earle‐Sears’s campaign committee, Winsome for Governor, made a $1,800 charitable donation to the Family Foundation, a Richmond-based extreme anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy group that opposes marriage equality, supports so-called conversion therapy, and in blog posts has described IVF as immoral and likened it to “child trafficking.”

• The Family Foundation has long championed banning abortion, repealing no-fault divorce, and overturning protections for LGBTQ+ Virginians. In 2024, its blog described fertility treatments as contributing to “the erosion of the traditional family structure.”

• In leaked audio from a virtual campaign meeting obtained in March by Virginia Scope, a senior staffer said Earle-Sears was “ideologically right there with Donald Trump” and even “more conservative” than him, a claim later echoed by campaign insiders. The recording captures staff boasting that the candidate’s politics were “more conservative than Donald Trump, who I love and respect greatly,” […].

• The timing of the donation is notable. It came just weeks before Trump’s high-profile IVF announcement, positioning Earle-Sears squarely at odds with the party leader’s public stance.

• The contradiction is compounded by her recent debate performance, in which she repeatedly declared that firing someone for being gay and opposing same-sex marriage “is not discrimination.” 

• The donation revelation comes as Earle-Sears trails in public polling and fundraising ahead of the November election.

• Together, the donation and the debate remark highlight a campaign deeply embedded in Christian nationalist social policy networks, even as the national party looks to broaden access to fertility and appeal beyond its base. If elected, Earle-Sears would become Virginia’s first Black woman governor and one of the most socially conservative governors in modern U.S. history.