Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate
For Immediate Release: July 9, 2020
Contact: [email protected]
NARAL Pro-Choice America today announced its endorsements of Reverend Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff for U.S. Senate. Warnock and Ossoff are seeking to flip the seats currently held by anti-choice, anti-freedom Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue.
The race between Warnock and Loeffler is a special election to fill the seat vacated by former Senator Johnny Isakson. Loeffler was appointed to Isakson’s seat in January by anti-choice Governor Brian Kemp. Jon Ossoff is running against incumbent Senator David Perdue, who consistently helps advance Donald Trump’s extreme agenda and voted to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court, tilting the balance of the Court to one hostile to Roe v. Wade. Both Senate races will be on the ballot in the November 3rd general election.
“NARAL is proud to endorse Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff in this critical fight to reclaim Georgia’s seats in the U.S. Senate,” said NARAL Pro-Choice America President llyse Hogue. “With the fate of Roe and the right to abortion on the line this year, regaining a Senate majority in support of reproductive freedom is critical for protecting women and families and safeguarding our rights. Senators Loeffler and Perdue have served as rubber stamps for Donald Trump’s agenda to stack the courts and roll back abortion access. Their days betraying the values of Georgians are numbered. The message we’re sending to these senators is clear: When you come for our rights, we come for your seats.”
“For too long, our state has been represented by politicians advancing an ideological agenda that flies in the face of the values of the majority of Georgians who support reproductive freedom,” said NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Director Laura Simmons. “The political landscape in Georgia has been steadily shifting, and in 2020 we have a real chance to elect senators that the people of Georgia truly deserve. NARAL and our 47,000 members in Georgia will not let Sens. Loeffler and Perdue off the hook for turning their backs on women and families. We’re committed to doing whatever it takes to elect Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff and are proud to be part of the growing movement to send them to Congress.”
“I’m proud to have NARAL’s endorsement in this race and grateful for their advocacy on behalf of reproductive justice and choice, at a time when those fundamental principles are under attack,” said Reverend Raphael Warnock. “Georgians deserve leadership committed to standing up for access, freedom and women’s health. I’ve been doing this work all my life and, alongside partners like NARAL, I’ll carry that fight to the United States Senate.”
“In the U.S. Senate, I will defend the privacy of women’s health care, fight for federal resources to solve Georgia’s shocking maternal mortality crisis, and only vote to confirm judges who commit to upholding Roe v. Wade,” said Jon Ossoff. “I’m honored to receive NARAL’s support and look forward to working with them to protect and expand women’s access to health care here in Georgia.”
Senator David Perdue has a 0% score from NARAL in the Congressional Record on Choice. As Senator, Perdue has voted to confirm dozens of anti-choice judges, including voting to confirm Brett Kavanaugh to the U.S. Supreme Court — which cemented a majority on the highest court in the land that is hostile to Roe v. Wade and emboldened anti-choice lawmakers to double down on their agenda of gutting or overturning Roe.
While Senator Kelly Loeffler was appointed to office after Kavanaugh’s confirmation, her short tenure in the Senate has been no less extreme. The very first bill Sen. Loeffler chose to introduce as lead sponsor was an extreme measure that sought to shame women for exercising their fundamental freedom and push abortion care out of reach for as many people as possible — particularly rural women and women of color.
###
NARAL Pro-Choice America and its network of state affiliates and chapters are dedicated to protecting and expanding reproductive freedom for all. For more than 50 years, NARAL has worked to guarantee that every woman has the right to make personal decisions regarding the full range of reproductive choices, including preventing unintended pregnancy, bearing healthy children, and choosing legal abortion. Since 1969, NARAL has made history, grown to over 2.5 million members, and met the moments that have defined this fight with action, power and freedom. In recognition of its work defending our constitutional right to choose, Fortune Magazine described NARAL as “one of the top 10 advocacy groups in America.”