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

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Press Release

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

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Contact: [email protected]

Atlanta Today, reproductive freedom champion Stacey Abrams lost her bid to represent Georgia as governor.

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

“We are grateful for Stacey Abrams and her career-long fight for reproductive freedom. Georgia deserves better than Governor Brian Kemp, who continues to ignore his constituents’ overwhelming support for the legal right to abortion. We know that Gov. Kemp’s abortion ban is actively doing harm to Georgian families. While this outcome shows that there is more work to be done, NARAL will never give up this fight. This is a loss, but one that will not stop the moral arc of the universe from bending toward justice in Georgia.”

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

“While we had hoped to see a different outcome in this race, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and our members will never stop fighting for the 8 in 10 Americans who support the right to abortion. There’s no question that Governor Brian Kemp’s record on reproductive freedom is wildly out of touch with the views of the vast majority of Georgians. Gov. Kemp should remain on notice: NARAL and our members will keep working to hold him accountable for throwing our fundamental freedoms under the bus.”

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 Abrams as part of its largest-ever midterm electoral program to elect candidates up and down the ballot in Georgia 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. Read more about NARAL’s endorsed candidates here.

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.

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, so far we knocked on over 330,000 doors, made over 641,000 calls, sent over 682,000 texts, and filled over 4,600 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.

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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.