Senate Runoff Election Begins in Georgia, Pro-Abortion Group Backs Jim Martin
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
November 14, 2008
Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) — The runoff election for a U.S. Senate seat has officially begun in Georgia as the Secretary of State announced the December 2 election between pro-life Sen. Saxby Chambliss and pro-abortion challenge Jim Martin. Pro-life groups are behind Chambliss and NARAL indicated Friday it is backing Martin.
In an email to her donors, NARAL president Nancy Keenan said, "This U.S. Senate race in Georgia is extremely important to pro-choice Americans."
Keenan pleaded for money to support Martin, saying "we spent nearly every dime we had during the general election" supporting Barack Obama.
NARAL hopes Martin will win the Senate race and make it even more difficult for pro-life advocates in the Senate to stop Obama’s pro-abortion legislation and nominees.
In the email, Keenan attacked Chambliss, who has a 100 percent pro-life voting record according to the National Right to Life Committee.
"Senator Chambliss is as anti-choice as they come — it is no surprise that John McCain, Sarah Palin, and even George Bush have agreed to go to Georgia to campaign on behalf of Chambliss," Keenan wrote.
"That is why NARAL Pro-Choice America must get to work immediately by building a massive pro-choice education and get out the vote campaign in this race to turn out pro-choice Georgia voters for Martin," she said.
Keenan said Obama would nominate as many as three members of the Supreme Court who would likely support Roe and continue making unlimited abortions legal for another 35 years.
"We know Sen. Chambliss will stand in the way" of that happening, Keenan said and told her members that Martin is needed to help confirm pro-abortion judges.
Chambliss came close to getting another term representing residents of his home state of Georgia on election night. With nearly all of the votes counted, Chambliss leads pro-abortion Democratic candidate Jim Martin 49.8 percent to 46.8 percent.
However, because of a third party candidate, the vote is just shy of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff and Georgia law requires the two top candidates to face off in a runoff election in December when no one achieves a majority.
During the general election, Chambliss received the support of the National Right to Life Committee.
Its political director Karen Cross wrote Chambliss a letter of endorsement and said the differences between him and Martin on abortion were enormous.
NRLC thanked Chambliss for his "exemplary 100 percent pro-life voting record throughout your entire six-year term in the U.S. Senate." It thanked him for his votes for major legislation such as the partial-birth abortion ban and the Unborn Victims of Violence Act that protects pregnant women and their unborn children like Laci and Conner Peterson from violence.
Cross told Chambliss his record "also includes your consistent votes against federal funding of abortion and of organizations that promote abortion."
"We are also grateful for your cosponsorship of other important pro-life bills that have not yet been enacted, including parental notification legislation and a bill to ban the practice of human cloning," the group added.
The Family Research Council also applauded Chambliss’ pro-life votes in its own radio ads concerning the Georgia Senate race.
In Georgia, the FRC radio spot endorses Senator Saxby Chambliss, saying that he "opposes abortion on demand" and that his opponent, Jim Martin, has made "protecting abortion rights one of his top legislative priorities."
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