Justices Charlie Bethel and Sarah Hawkins Warren were both reelected to the Georgia Supreme Court May 19 despite substantial Democratic and abortion-industry efforts to unseat them. CatholicVote had endorsed both incumbents and urged voters to turn out for them.
The victorious justices beat out challengers Miracle Rankin and former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan, both of whom were backed by abortion groups. As Zeale News previously reported, the stakes of the election were high as the future of Georgia’s law protecting unborn children from abortions after six weeks was widely seen as hinging on the outcome.
“Both incumbent justices, Charlie Bethel and Sarah Hawkins Warren, voted in 2024 to reinstate Georgia's law protecting unborn children after six weeks,” Zeale News reported. “Planned Parenthood Votes announced a $750,000 advertising campaign backing the challengers, accusing Bethel and Warren of acting as ‘politicians in robes.’ Reproductive Freedom for All, an “abortion rights” nonprofit, also endorsed Jordan and Rankin….”
Ahead of the election, CatholicVote Vice President of Advocacy Joshua Mercer urged Catholic and pro-life voters to “give the unborn” a “massive turnout” for the two pro-life justices, warning: “Lives are at stake.”
After May 19 projections showed both CatholicVote-endorsed candidates had won reelection, Mercer commented that Democrats had “made abortion a central issue in the Georgia Supreme Court race.”
“Kudos to Sarah Hawkins Warren and Charlie Bethel for a resounding victory,” he said. “It now appears that the Supreme Court of Georgia will remain conservative until at least 2030.”
The results “solidify the court's conservative majority,” Mercer explained, likely ensuring a strong line of defense against continued efforts to overturn Georgia’s pro-life law in court.