Georgia’s Supreme Court elections are emerging as a major new front for the pro-life movement, as national groups on both sides of the abortion battle pour money into two races that could determine the future of the state’s six-week abortion law.
Both incumbent justices, Charlie Bethel and Sarah Hawkins Warren, voted in 2024 to reinstate Georgia's law protecting unborn children after six weeks. Their challengers are backed by pro-abortion organizations.
Bethel, a former Republican state senator, faces Miracle Rankin, a personal injury attorney and former president of the Georgia Association of Black Women Attorneys, while former Democratic state Sen. Jen Jordan is challenging Hawkins Warren.
The races are technically nonpartisan. In reality, they have become deeply political contests centered on abortion law ahead of Georgia’s May 19 primary election.
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 this week. The Georgia Recorder reported that Jordan said the court could determine the future of the abortion industry in the state, calling it a "last line of defense” for what she described as “fundamental rights.”
CatholicVote is urging Catholic voters to rally behind Bethel and Hawkins Warren. Joshua Mercer, CatholicVote’s vice president of advocacy, warned that complacency could cost the incumbents their seats.
"Voters need to know that this is not just another primary election," Mercer said. "For the Georgia Supreme Court, this is the general election."
Mercer pointed to similar organized campaigns that flipped state courts in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania "to a disastrous effect."
"Lives are at stake," Mercer said. "No one should be resting easy just because the Georgia Supreme Court is considered solid."
Mercer called Catholic and pro-life voters "essential players" in the election, urging them to “give the unborn a massive turnout for Justices Sarah Hawkins Warren and Charlie Bethel.”