Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor in Georgia, is up against a GOP incumbent in a generally favorable Republican environment, while trying to meet the high expectations following her narrow defeat in the 2018 race.

But she's found an issue to center her campaign around as Election Day approaches: protecting abortion rights in Georgia."It's going to be front and center in the conversation," Abrams said.

In particular, Abrams has focused on a 2019 law signed by her Republican rival, Gov. Brian Kemp, that bans most abortions when early cardiac activity is detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy -- when many women don't yet know they're pregnant.

After initially being blocked, the law went into effectearlier this year following the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade -- a decision that has energized Democrats across the country, helping shift the midterm political landscape into more unsettled territory.

Abrams is testing how much the issue can shift things in her favor in a state President Joe Biden narrowly carried in 2020, but that has long voted Republican.But Abrams supporters say abortion could be a deciding factor that could sway women who previously voted for Kemp.

"I think it could be the difference in our state," said Rosa Thurnher, an owner of an Atlanta Mexican restaurant who was at the farmers market Saturday.
 "I'm hoping that women can be kind to other women and just know that we need to make some changes, and protect this right, for our future generations for our fellow sisters."

Last edited by Spunky (9/20/2022 12:01 pm)