Press Release
NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia Endorses Stacey Abrams for Governor
For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 19, 2022
Contact: [email protected]
Nation’s leading reproductive freedom advocacy group endorses Stacey Abrams at a critical moment in the fight for abortion rights
Georgia —Today, NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia announced its endorsement of Stacey Abrams in her bid to become Georgia’s next governor. Abrams is a trailblazing, progressive champion for democracy and reproductive freedom running to unseat anti-choice Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in the 2022 election.
NARAL Pro-Choice America President Mini Timmaraju released the following statement:
“NARAL is thrilled to endorse Stacey Abrams in her bid for governor. Not only is she a champion for reproductive freedom, but she has a long career working to protect the fundamental rights of Georgians. Her on-the-ground efforts helped lay the foundation to flip Georgia blue in the 2020 presidential and 2021 runoff elections, sending two champions for reproductive freedom to the U.S. Senate. With our freedom to vote under attack, she leads the fight to ensure every eligible voter’s voice is heard.
Abrams is the champion Georgians need and deserve. There is no one better to protect Georgians’ fundamental rights than her, and NARAL is proud to be with her every step of the way.”
NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth released the following statement:
“Georgia turning blue in 2020 was no accident. It was the result of years of hard work and dedication from Stacey Abrams and other leaders and grassroots activists of color fighting to ensure Georgians’ voices were heard. NARAL is proud to endorse Stacey in her historic run to become the first Black and first woman governor in Georgia’s history.
The people of Georgia need a champion like Abrams now more than ever to stand up against the anti-choice lawmakers who have ramped up their continued attacks on voting rights and reproductive freedom, dismissing the vast majority who support these fundamental rights. However, we cannot have reproductive rights and freedom without our most fundamental voting rights.”
Former Georgia State House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams released the following statement:
“Every woman has the right to make decisions about her health, but that right is currently under attack from the Supreme Court to the state legislature here in Georgia. The current governor chose to impose one of the most draconian, anti-abortion laws in the country, and his counterpart is poised to move our state even further to the right if elected. We cannot allow it.
I am honored to have the support of NARAL in my run for governor and as a partner in this fight. If we are going to overcome the obstacles in front of us, we are going to need leadership to move us forward, not rewrite chapters of the past. Whether it is voting rights, reproductive rights, or our right to quality affordable health care, we need leaders who are working constantly to improve Georgians’ lives. As governor, I will work every single day to ensure opportunity and success are possible for all Georgians, regardless of your zip code, background, or access to power. Because in the end, we are One Georgia.”
Stacey Abrams has been a champion for reproductive freedom throughout her career. As minority leader of the Georgia State House, she voted against anti-choice legislation and led her caucus in fighting an anti-choice bill that bans insurance coverage for abortion. She also fought against legislation that prohibits somebody from accessing abortion care after 20 weeks. As an activist, she also fought against Georgia’s draconian six-week abortion ban, and she worked with NARAL to mobilize business community and film industry leaders to stand up for reproductive freedom by remaining in Georgia and organizing. Abrams was the first woman to lead either chamber of the Georgia General Assembly and the first Black woman to lead in the state House of Representatives. After becoming the first Black woman to become the gubernatorial nominee for a major party in the United States and the gross mismanagement of the 2018 election, Abrams launched Fair Fight and other organizations devoted to voting rights, training and hiring young people of color, and tackling social issues at both the state and national level—working to ensure every American has a voice in our election system.
Listening to state leaders like Abrams 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. In 2017, NARAL Pro-Choice America was one of the first national organizations to endorse and support Stacey Abrams, seeing her leadership as essential to our fight for progress in Georgia and the Southeast region.
This endorsement comes as anti-choice, anti-freedom state lawmakers—including Georgia— have unleashed an all-out assault on abortion access and voting rights. These restrictions disproportionately push access out of reach for Black and brown people, Indigenous people, and other people of color; LGBTQ people; those with low incomes; and others who face systemic barriers to care.
Last year, more than 100 restrictions on abortion access were enacted at the state level, making it the worst year for abortion rights since Roe v. Wade was decided. These restrictions include Texas’ blatantly unconstitutional SB 8, a vigilante-enforced ban on abortion at approximately six weeks, before many people even know they are pregnant. Georgia State Senate President Butch Miller (R) has signaled he plans to work with anti-choice groups to pass a provision similar to Texas’ ban during Georgia’s next legislative session.
In 2021, extremist state lawmakers also sought to make it harder to vote. Last year, 19 states passed 33 laws restricting voting rights, including Georgia’s Senate Bill 202, making voter suppression a central component of the anti-choice movement’s attacks on reproductive freedom. Restrictions on fundamental rights and freedoms further underscore why Georgia needs a champion like Stacey Abrams as governor.
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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 more than 2.5 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.