NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Outcome of Georgia’s Attorney General Race - Reproductive Freedom for All

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Press Release

NARAL Pro-Choice America Responds to Outcome of Georgia’s Attorney General Race

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, November 9, 2022
Contact: [email protected]

Atlanta Today, reproductive freedom champion Jen Jordan lost her bid to represent Georgia as attorney general.

NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement in response:

“We couldn’t be more proud to have supported Jen Jordan, a proven leader in the fight for reproductive freedom, in this race. NARAL and our 83,000 members across Georgia remain committed to this movement, and our momentum won’t be diminished by Attorney General Chris Carr’s attacks on our fundamental rights.”

NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth said:

“Though we are disappointed in today’s results, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia is proud to have backed Jen Jordan in her bid for election to Georgia attorney general. Over the course of this race, Jordan recognized exactly what was at stake when it comes to reproductive freedom, and she championed our fundamental rights. Make no mistake: Though this race may be over, NARAL will never stop fighting to defeat anti-choice, anti-freedom politicians like Attorney General Chris Carr. We will be watching Attorney General Carr and will hold him accountable for his out-of-touch agenda.”

Attorney General Chris Carr has been a vocal anti-choice extremist, defending the state’s extreme ban on abortion at six weeks, which is before many people even know they are pregnant, and signing an amicus brief along with 23 anti-choice attorneys general explicitly stating there is no constitutional right to abortion and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey. He also urged Congress and the Biden administration to support the anti-choice Hyde Amendment, a ban on federal Medicaid coverage of abortion care, and led the Republican Attorneys General Association as it promoted the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in its decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization—ending the constitutional right to abortion and opening the door for extremist state lawmakers to put total bans on abortion in place. This decision is already having a devastating impact throughout the country as 15 states, including Georgia, are enforcing extreme or total bans on abortion. The people hurt most by these bans and restrictions are those who already face barriers to accessing abortion care—including women; Black, Latina/x, Asian American, Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Indigenous people; those working to make ends meet; the LGBTQ+ community; immigrants; young people; those living in rural communities; people with disabilities, and other historically oppressed communities.

NARAL endorsed Jordan as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot during this critical moment in the fight for reproductive freedom. The program focuses on deep field investments in phone banking, door knocking, youth organizing, and canvassing, along with a robust communications campaign to support endorsed candidates and ballot initiatives in Pennsylvania, Georgia, California, Michigan, Arizona, and Nevada. NARAL’s work in Georgia includes:

  • Knocking on nearly 3,000 doors, making nearly 90,000 calls, and sending over 89,000 texts;
  • Releasing an analysis of early mail ballot requests in Georgia pointing to a growing wave among women and Black voters in the state far outpacing previous elections;
  • Conducting polling alongside Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates and EMC Research showing Georgians support of reproductive freedom; and
  • Releasing an ad backed by a five-figure buy shining a light on Republican Governor Brian Kemp’s extreme anti-choice agenda.
  • Deploying NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju to fight side-by-side with champions and get out the vote in key races.

Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.

Key components of our midterm campaign include:

  • Harnessing the full power of our 4 million members to mobilize their communities through traditional organizing tactics. In total, we knocked on over 330,000 doors, made nearly 707,000 calls, sent over 868,000 texts, and filled over 4,860 volunteer shifts.
  • Continuing to broaden the impact of our cutting-edge research into voter sentiment on abortion, including our pioneering freedom-centered messaging, by training candidates, volunteers, and activists to speak to their communities in ways we know align with their values and move them to act on their beliefs.
  • Rolling out a pilot program in Michigan with 14 organizers working on seven four-year college campuses and over 20 community college campuses to enroll voters and activate over 721 volunteers.
  • Endorsing candidates in over 200 races nationwide for federal and state offices.
  • NARAL, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and EMILY’s List announced a partnership in May to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms to elect reproductive freedom champions up and down the ballot across the country.

Listening to state leaders and recognizing the power and necessity of real on-the-ground investments, NARAL Pro-Choice America launched its Georgia chapter in 2017 to help build the progressive momentum and infrastructure necessary to make Georgia a key battleground state. NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia spent years working alongside other in-state groups to lay the foundation to help flip Georgia blue, mobilizing tens of thousands of voters to turn out for reproductive freedom champions at all levels.

###

For over 50 years, NARAL Pro-Choice America has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for every body. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.