Former Georgia Democratic Rep. John Barrow ran a single-issue campaign for a seat on Georgia‘s Supreme Court: He would enshrine an absolute right to abortion in Georgia’s Constitution. He lost by double digits, marking perhaps the biggest electoral win for the pro-life cause since the fall of Roe v. Wade.
Barrow was a five-term congressman whose father was a judge. He challenged state Supreme Court Justice Andrew Pinson in the election run yesterday. Pinson, who was appointed to the seat by Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA), beat Barrow 55% to 45%.
From top to bottom, this was an abortion campaign, and Barrow was the abortion candidate. Barrow’s campaign slogan on his yard signs was “Vote for Choice.” Planned Parenthood, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly the National Abortion Rights Action League), all backed Barrow’s campaign.
Barrow’s main attack on Pinson was about abortion. “Barrow says that when Pinson was Georgia’s solicitor general, he was the lawyer most responsible for the state supporting the Mississippi case that led to the U.S. Supreme Court overturning a constitutional right to abortion in 2022,” the Associated Press reported.
Barrow pledged to rule that Georgia’s Constitution protected everything “that we associate with what was the law under Roe vs. Wade. And then it’s probably wider.” Roe v. Wade declared a constitutional right to abortion up to the moment of birth. It’s hard to imagine what could be wider than that, but this is where the Democratic Party is today.
“A former Democratic Georgia congressman hopes abortion can power his state Supreme Court bid,” explained the Associated Press.
ABC hosted Barrow in a segment saying “Abortion rights are taking center stage” in his race.
Barrow’s endorsers primarily stressed abortion.
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So this outcome is cause for pro-lifers to celebrate. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, election results have generally cut against the pro-life cause. Exceptions have included the easy 2022 reelection of Gov. Mike DeWine in Ohio, along with Govs. Chris Sununu (R-NH), Ron DeSantis (R-FL), and Kim Reynolds (R-IA).
The Georgia race was an even more acute test of the pro-life cause, though, because the only issue was abortion, and in a state Joe Biden won in 2020, and which has two Democratic U.S. senators, abortion lost — badly.