Warnock picks up major abortion rights group’s endorsement in reelection bid

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) picked up an endorsement Tuesday from major abortion rights group NARAL Pro-Choice America in his race for reelection next year, with Democrats and abortion activists increasingly framing the midterms as a fight to defend abortion access. 

NARAL acting President Adrienne Kimmell said in a statement that with the Supreme Court set to review a Mississippi abortion ban in the coming months, and the recent implementation of Texas’s so-called fetal heartbeat law that prohibits virtually all abortions after six weeks, there “is no doubt that Roe v. Wade and access to abortion care are on the line.” 

“NARAL was proud to endorse Senator Reverend Warnock in his historic victory to unseat an anti-choice extremist and secure Democratic control of the Senate,” she added, referring to former Georgia Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R), who lost her bid for reelection in the state’s Senate runoff earlier this year. 

“We, and our 54,000 members across Georgia, are excited to support [Warnock] again in the 2022 midterms,” Kimmell said. “We are confident that he will continue to fight to make sure that every body in Georgia and across the country has the freedom to make their own decisions about their health, lives, families, and futures.”

Warnock expressed appreciation for the endorsement Tuesday, writing in a statement, “I’m proud to stand with NARAL and so many Georgians in the urgent fight for reproductive freedom and justice.” 

“As a proud pro-choice pastor, I fundamentally believe that health care is a human right and that decisions about pregnancy should be made between a patient and their provider,” he added. 

He went on to argue that the country is “at a moment in which this fundamental right is under unprecedented attack, and I’m grateful to have NARAL’s endorsement as I continue fighting on behalf of all Georgians in the U.S. Senate to ensure they have access to the health care they need, including reproductive health care.”

Warnock has repeatedly spoken out against the Texas abortion ban since the Supreme Court declined to block it from taking effect earlier this month, writing in one tweet, “The extreme abortion law in Texas is exactly why we need to keep a Senate with the power to appoint Supreme Court justices that respect a woman’s right to choose.”

The extreme abortion law in Texas is exactly why we need to keep a Senate with the power to appoint Supreme Court justices that respect a woman’s right to choose.

— Reverend Raphael Warnock (@ReverendWarnock) September 1, 2021

While the Texas law grants exceptions for medical emergencies, it does not provide the same for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest, and also allows virtually any private citizen to file a lawsuit against an abortion provider or anyone else who aids or intends to aid in the performance of an abortion. 

Democratic leaders and abortion rights groups joined together earlier this month to condemn the Supreme Court’s decision to not prevent the law from taking effect, with Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson arguing, “there is no doubt that reproductive rights will be on the ballot in 2022.” 

Former football star Herschel Walker is widely considered the favorite among GOP challengers to Warnock in next year’s race, which is expected to be one of the most closely watched and competitive Senate contests in 2022.