The Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat trying to win a Senate seat in an upcoming Georgia runoff race, is facing criticism from fellow black pastors for his support of abortion rights.
More than 25 such pastors recently sent an open letter to Warnock asking him to reconsider his support for such rights, arguing that abortion perpetuates systemic racism because it kills black babies at a disproportionate rate.
Warnock does not support restrictions on abortions and has openly expressed the belief that abortion is an exercise of “human agency and freedom,” consistent with his views as as a Christian minister.
“Killing Black lives, especially killing unborn Black lives, does nothing but brutalize and scar vulnerable Black communities who are already suffering so much,” reads the letter, which also argues that abortion kills 474 black babies for every 1,000 live births. “Your open advocacy of abortion is a scandal to the faith and to the Black community.”