This week’s Georgia Supreme Court win for Justice Andrew Pinson is a sign that abortion will not be the silver bullet that Democrats are hoping for in an election year. The closely watched contest had been heralded as a referendum on abortion rights after Pinson’s opponent, former U.S. Representative John Barrow, made abortion the cornerstone of his campaign.
While Georgia’s Supreme Court elections are nonpartisan, Barrow’s decision to focus on his extreme abortion stance follows the standard playbook that Democrats nationwide are using in an attempt to secure electoral success. But, the Democrat obsession with abortion ultimately cost Barrow a victory in a battleground state.
What happened to the good old days of running for a judicial office based on one’s dedication to the rule of law, rather than legislating from the bench to enact pro-abortion policies?
Pinson was able to retain his seat and secure a re-election by remaining steadfast in his commitment to the Constitution, while Barrow insisted on focusing on partisan issues and exposing his own extreme abortion agenda.
Pinson’s record on life is well-known in the state. As solicitor general for Georgia, he argued in defense of the state’s heartbeat law, which protects unborn babies once a beating heart can be detected in the womb, usually around the point of six-weeks’ gestation. When he was on the bench, he ruled with the majority of the court to uphold that law.
In contrast, Barrow’s record as a U.S. Representative included supporting taxpayer-funded abortions and opposing a pain capable bill, and he received a campaign endorsement from Planned Parenthood.
While both men have a known record on the issue of abortion from their past work, Barrow forecasted how he would rule on abortion-related cases as a judge when he publicly embraced the notion that Georgians have a right to an abortion under the state constitution.
Pinson on the other hand, recognized that judges must follow the rule of law without bias, ensuring that the court remains fair and impartial. His position is one that we hope any judge on any court would be able to take when it comes to traditionally partisan issues.
Georgians agreed by reelecting Pinson and rejecting Barrow and his extreme abortion campaign.
While this is one race, in one state, Georgia is one of the battleground states in the 2024 election. And there are signs not only in Georgia, but all across the country that voters do not want the abortion extremism being pushed by Democrats, from Barrow to Biden.
After months of pushing abortion on the national stage and engaging in a multi-state abortion tour, recent polling shows Biden and Harris behind Donald Trump. Even with Biden pouring tons of money into abortion ads, he isn’t surging ahead. Yet, Biden is still doubling down on abortion extremism, with his campaign continuing to believe that the issue will ‘be good for him’ in the presidential election.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer believes the same and recently announced that he too will be turning the Senate’s attention to abortion in the coming months, in an attempt to turn out more voters.
The problem for Democrats is that their Planned Parenthood-endorsed position of allowing all-trimester abortion is incredibly unpopular. Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America and our partner PAC, Women Speak Out, have canvassers in eight battleground states including Georgia talking to voters about Joe Biden’s agenda for no limits whatsoever. When we have conversations with people at the doors, they react strongly against the Democrat position of allowing late-term abortions. This is consistent with the polling we’ve seen nationwide. According to poll after poll, around two-thirds of Americans want to limit abortion after the first trimester or around 15 weeks gestation.
Yet among Democrats, abortion policies are now a race to the extreme and the abortion lobby has an interest in furthering the illusion that unlimited abortion guarantees election success. To no one’s surprise, the legacy media is aiding their quest in driving this narrative. That might be why every Associated Press article leading up to the Georgia Supreme Court election had the word ‘abortion’ in the headline; but when Pinson triumphed over Barrow’s extreme stance, the AP story didn’t mention abortion until seven paragraphs in.
Republicans should see through the spin and see Barrow’s defeat as a path forward in defeating no-limits Democrats in November. The lives of unborn children depend upon them calling out this extremism and articulating the pro-life vision of saving babies and serving women.