ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Democratic challenger Stacey Abram s traded harsh attacks on Georgia’s elections during the pair’s final debate before Georgia’s Nov. 8 election, while elaborating on their positions on abortion and offering sharply differing visions for the state’s economy.
Kemp avoided a categorical promise not to sign further abortion restrictions, saying Sunday “it’s not my desire to go move the needle any further.” But he acknowledged that more restrictions might be passed by a Republican legislature, saying that “we’ll look at those when the time comes.”
Abrams pointed out that equivocation, saying, “Let’s be clear, he did not say he wouldn’t.”
Kemp criticized Abrams as inconsistent on what restrictions she would support. Abrams argued she had not changed her position and said she would support legal abortion until a fetus is viable outside the womb.
Kemp denied claims by Democrats that under Georgia’s abortion restrictions, which restrict most abortions after cardiac activity can be detected in the womb, women could be prosecuted for abortions or investigated after miscarriages. The governor revealed that his wife had miscarried one of what had been twins, while the other survived to become his eldest daughter, calling it a “tragic, traumatic situation.”