Stacey Abrams, the former state legislative leader and current voting rights activist running for governor of Georgia against incumbent Republican Brian Kemp, met her challenger for another debate this weekend. She spotlighted Kemp’s record on issues including abortion and gun policy.
A Georgia law restricts abortion after some six weeks of pregnancy, the same point when an infamous Texas ban relying in part on what was termed a bounty system began. (Texas now bans most abortions throughout all of pregnancy.) “We know that under the law that he signed, women can be investigated for miscarriages and other pregnancy losses, and that 52 counties have said that they indeed will pursue those investigations, because they don’t think they have a choice,” Abrams said. “We know that under this governor, women are in danger. Georgia’s already number one for maternal mortality, and it is only going to get worse when women are forced to carry pregnancies — when one in five women in Georgia does not have health insurance before pregnancy [and] will be compelled to carry that pregnancy to term… Brian Kemp does not have a plan for the lives of the women who are being forced to carry pregnancies to term that are unwanted pregnancies.”
On guns, Georgia is now a permitless carry state, meaning otherwise eligible residents can carry handguns without any licensing from the state. Texas implemented similar rules, sparking concerns about a sudden influx of firearms among the population. “I’ve traveled this state, and the number of people who come up to me and tell me about gun violence in communities that have never seen it before because people have weapons, don’t have training, don’t have responsibility, and know there are no consequences — that makes all of us less safe, and we need a governor who’s willing to put safety before the NRA,” Abrams said. Both Abrams and Kemp said they would support the results from their race even if they lose. That’s somewhat of a low bar, but one that other GOP candidates definitely couldn’t clear. Previously, Abrams has also criticized Kemp for failing to take further action on housing prices.
“He has said that he doesn’t want to upset investors by giving local governments control over helping control housing prices,” she said. “I want to make sure they have the help they need.” During her opening statement at the debate, Abrams also pointed listeners to some of her own record, including involvement in installing wireless internet capabilities for communities in need and paying off Georgians’ medical debt. Abrams’s Fair Fight political action committee donated $1.34 million to pay off medical debt for tens of thousands of people, including in Georgia. “I know firsthand how medical costs and a broken healthcare system put families further and further in debt,” Abrams said late last year. “Across the sunbelt and in the South, this problem is exacerbated in states like Georgia where failed leaders have callously refused to expand Medicaid, even during a pandemic.”
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