Conservatives on Twitter lambasted the Democratic abortion advocate and preacher after calling himself a "pro-choice pastor."
Rev. Raphael Warnock, a senior pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta and Georgia senator for the Democratic Party drew the ire of conservatives on Twitter this week after he declared himself a "pro-choice pastor" and expressed support for women's rights to abortion acess. Warnock, who also became Georgia's first Black senator when he was elected in January 2021, was criticized by conservatives for his pro-abortion stance.
"As a pro-choice pastor, I've always believed that a patient's room is way too small for a woman, her doctor, and the United States government," Warnock wrote on Twitter on Monday morning. The 52 year old added, "I'll always fight to protect a woman's right to choose. And that will never change."
Warnock Reacts to the Possibility of Roe v. Wade Being Overturned
Warnock's comments came after the shocking leak of the draft minority opinion by Justice Samuel Alito that showed how the Supreme Court voted to strike down the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion access across America. The "pro-choice pastor" and civil rights activist leads the very same historic Atlanta church where Rev. Martin Luther King Sr. and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastors.
Warnock, who became a leading activist in the campaign to expand Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act, has long expressed and defended his pro-abortion stance as a minister before he was elected as a Georgia senator. His "pro-choice pastor" comment on Twitter on Monday went viral, receiving more than 18,000 retweets and 148,000 likes. The "pro-choice pastor" also received a lot of criticism from conservatrives who questioned his Christian faith vis-a-vis his pro-choice beliefs.
Also Read: Supreme Court to Overturn Roe v Wade, Leaked Draft Opinion Reveals
Conservatives Decry Warnock's Pro-Abortion Stance
According to the Christian Post, conservative Christian Tony DUngy, who is also the first Black NFL coach to win a Super Bowl, publicly questioned whether Warnock's pro-abortion stance was aligned with his Christian faith. The unapologetically conservative coach argued that it all depended on whether the pastor believed that the "organism growing inside the mother" is "a life or not."
Dungy explained further that if Warnock believed it was merely "tissue," then it made sense for him to be "pro-choice," but if he believed it was life, then "it's obviously not OK to choose to end it." The coach turned to Scripture, specifically Psalm 139:16 to explain his point. The passage referred to the "unformed body" of a person.
Georgia's Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was also among those who criticized the "pro-choice pastor," as she called him "a liar" and a "fraud." She wrote on Twitter that, "There is no pastor ordained by God that would support killing God's creation in the womb."
A poll released in late April revealed that Georgia voters are not fully supportive of Warnock. The Gwinnett Daily Post reported that according to a recent political action committee survey on 2,500 registered voters in Georgia, Republican U.S. Senate candidate Herschel Walker earned 51.4% votes compared to just 41% for the Democratic "pro-choice pastor."
Related Article: Biden to Reverse Trump-Era Measure That Protects Christian Doctors from Performing Abortions