Stacey Abrams temporarily paused fundraising for her own campaign, asking her supporters to instead donate to non-profit organizations that support access to abortions and promote abortion rights.
The Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate is using her platform to redirect funds toward pro-choice causes after a leak on Monday of a draft majority Supreme Court decision that could result in total abortion bans in almost half the states and the possibility of a ban at the federal level. It would be the first time in modern U.S. history that a right extended to American citizens based on a precedent settled at the Court has been repealed by a later court. Many feel that the majority opinion, written by Justice Samuel Alito, could also open the door to rolling back other rights such as same-sex marriage and the ability to access contraception.
Abrams, a pro-choice Democrat who is campaigning against a field of Republican hopefuls, is using considerable fundraising ability to bolster that cause.
Abrams, who is running unopposed in the Democratic primary, listed a number of abortion rights groups including Planned Parenthood Southeast and NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia that would benefit from her campaign’s funds. The announcement came a day after the former state lawmaker expressed her anger on Twitter about the draft opinion that could mean the end to a constitutional right to abortion.
“As a woman, I am enraged by the continued assault on our right to control our bodies + our futures,” she tweeted Tuesday. “As an American, I am appalled by the SCOTUS breach & its implications. As the next Governor of Georgia, I will defend the right to an abortion and fight for reproductive justice.”
This isn’t the first time that Abrams, who also ran for governor in 2018, used money she has raised for other causes to aid abortion rights groups. In June 2019, Fair Fight Action — a voting rights organization that has raised more than $100 million since Abrams founded it in 2018 — made a number of $10,000 donations to abortion rights groups after Georgia Republicans enacted a ban on most abortions after six weeks.
The campaign has since resumed its own fundraising but added a page to its own website for supporters to continue donating to abortion rights orgs.
Abrams is a force as a political fundraiser, with her campaign bringing in some $11.7 million in donations in the three months that ended April 30.