NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan for Attorney General - Reproductive Freedom for All

Formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America

Press Release

NARAL Pro-Choice America Endorses Georgia State Senator Jen Jordan for Attorney General

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 21, 2021
Contact: [email protected]

 

Nation’s leading reproductive freedom advocacy group endorses Georgia State Sen. Jen Jordan (SD-06) for attorney general

Washington, DC Today, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced its endorsement of State Senator Jen Jordan in her bid to become Georgia’s next attorney general in the 2022 election. State Sen. Jordan currently represents Georgia’s 6th Senate District and is running to unseat Attorney General Chris Carr, the anti-choice Republican incumbent. Jordan is NARAL Pro-Choice America’s first attorney general candidate endorsement of the 2022 midterm election cycle.

NARAL Pro-Choice America Chief Campaigns and Advocacy Officer Christian LoBue released the following statement:

“NARAL Pro-Choice America is proud to support State Senator Jen Jordan in her bid to become Georgia’s next attorney general. Sen. Jordan is a true champion for reproductive freedom, and is the chief lawyer and advocate that Georgians need to protect abortion access at a time when it faces unprecedented threats. Jordan took bold action to oppose a six-week abortion ban that would have devastated pregnant people and families throughout the state. NARAL and our 54,000 members across Georgia are excited to enthusiastically support Sen. Jordan in her campaign for attorney general, knowing her unwavering commitment to ensuring every body has the freedom to make their own decisions about their lives, families, and futures.”

State Senator Jen Jordan released the following statement:

“The future of reproductive freedom is on the line—not just in Texas—but in Georgia and around the country. It’s never been more important that Georgia has a qualified attorney general who understands these issues and will fight to uphold the constitutional precedent set under Roe v. Wade. Representation matters—it’s past time that we had a woman serving as Georgia’s Attorney General, and I’m honored to receive NARAL’s endorsement of our campaign.”

State Sen. Jordan has dedicated her career to fighting for fundamental freedoms. She staunchly opposed anti-choice Georgia lawmakers’ six-week abortion ban (HB 481) in 2019, which was later struck down by a federal judge, sharing her own story of pregnancy loss and the medical uncertainties that accompany the early stages of pregnancy. As a trial attorney, state Sen. Jordan notably fought for and won coverage of a client’s life-saving breast cancer treatments after a major insurance company claimed the cancer was a pre-existing condition.

Current anti-choice Attorney General Carr has stated that abortion care does not constitute “healthcare” in his defense of the state’s extreme ban on abortion at six weeks, before many people even know they are pregnant. Carr also signed 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.

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 candidates, including state Sen. Jordan.

This endorsement comes as anti-choice, anti-freedom state legislatures have unleashed an all-out assault on abortion access. Just last week, Georgia Senate President Butch Miller (R) announced that he was working with anti-choice groups to pass a provision similar to Texas’ extreme ban on abortion in Georgia’s next legislative session. Earlier this month, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block Texas’ blatantly unconstitutional SB 8, a law banning abortion at approximately six weeks, before many people even know they are pregnant, which also encourages vigilantism. The U.S. Supreme Court is also set to hear Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization this term, the first direct challenge to Roe since Donald Trump installed a new conservative majority on the court.

Anti-choice state lawmakers across the country have already introduced, advanced, or passed more than 330 state bills attacking abortion access in 2021. This year, over 90 restrictions on abortion access have been enacted at the state level, making it the worst year for abortion rights since Roe was decided. 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.

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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, paid family leave, and protections from pregnancy discrimination—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 safe, legal abortion.