ICYMI: As Georgia Voters Prepare for Tuesday’s Runoff, Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson Joins Civil Rights, Reproductive Rights Leaders

Metro Atlanta, GA — Yesterday, Planned Parenthood Action Fund President Alexis McGill Johnson traveled to Georgia to remind voters about the importance of Tuesday’s election–particularly for reproductive rights, freedom, and voting rights. 

In the morning, Alexis attended a service led by Rev. Timothy MacDonald at First Iconium Baptist Church, where she explained what is at stake in this political environment.

Alexis at First Iconium Baptist Church with Gerald Griggs, president of Georgia NAACP State Conference

During the service, Alexis noted:

“About a year ago this week, we were listening to the Supreme Court argue the Dobbs case. And no matter where you sit on the issue of reproductive freedom, two things were clear: The opposition not only had the case and the court, but the will to not just overturn Roe, but to make my children — my daughters who are 10 and 13 — less free.

“...I stand here, not just as the president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, but as a woman of faith. I stand here as someone who knows that I don’t want any lawmaker in the doctors office any more than I want them in my prayerbooks. And all through this year — if I did not have my faith, if I did not have hope — it would be so easy to be clouded by defeat, discouraged by doubt, and to be terrified by what we know is going to happen. Because taking away reproductive freedom is just the opening salvo.”

Later, Alexis joined a Reclaim Your Vote canvass launch alongside Marc H. Morial, president and CEO, National Urban League, Nancy Flake Johnson, president of Urban League of Georgia, LaTosha Brown and Cliff Albright, co-founders of Black Voters Matter, Melanie Campbell, president and CEO, National Coalition on Black Civic Participation and Convener of the Black Women’s Roundtable, Gerald A. Griggs, president of Georgia NAACP State Conference, Mayor Jazzmin Cobble of Stonecrest, and Rev. Dr. Jamal Bryant, pastor of New Birth Missionary Baptist Church. Alexis spoke to why Georgians must commit to voting, again: 

“I am here in Georgia because all eyes are on Georgia. I am here in Georgia because freedom runs through Georgia. Freedom is on the ballot. We saw that just a few weeks ago, everywhere where reproductive freedom was on the ballot, the voters turned up and they turned out because they understood what was at stake. And that is why we are here. That is why we are here together as partners in this moment. 

“Right now in Georgia, there is a ban on reproductive freedom. And what that means is that there are patients everyday showing up in need of health care — they are showing up in a state that already has severe restrictions on health care, where only half of the counties have an OB/GYN, and where maternal mortality is among the highest in the states. Not only are women being denied access to reproductive freedom; we are sentencing them life or death situations. … So that is on the ballot. That is why we are here today.” 

Alexis at the Reclaim Your Vote canvass launch

Later in the afternoon, Alexis joined a rally for reproductive rights and canvass kickoff with Representative Nikema Williams (D-GA-5), NARAL Pro-Choice America president Mini Timmaraju, and TruthSpeaks Consulting’s CEO LaTosha Brown in support of Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock’s reelection. There, Alexis stated: 

“We just did this a few weeks ago, and we are going to do it again. Because the stakes could not be higher right now. … Health care is on the ballot. If you cannot control your body, if you cannot control your freedom, if you cannot vote — because they are trying to restrict access to that as well — it means you truly cannot be free. We are so excited to be here to support Rev. Warnock because he is someone who needs to get back to Congress so that we can get some federal work done.”

Alexis at the Rally for Reproductive Freedom with LaTosha Brown, Rep. Nikema Williams, and Mini Timmaraju

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Planned Parenthood Action Fund is an independent, nonpartisan, not-for-profit membership organization formed as the advocacy and political arm of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. The Action Fund engages in educational, advocacy, and limited electoral activity, including grassroots organizing, legislative advocacy, and voter education.