Atlanta Events category interest

MARIETTA, Ga. — The presidential campaigns will make two Atlanta stops over the next two days. Republican vice presidential candidate JD Vance will be in metro Atlanta Monday night, and Democrat Tim Walz will be here on Tuesday.

The Faith and Freedom Coalition is meeting at the Cobb Galleria with Vance on Monday. This group has considerable support among conservatives at the state capitol and across the state.

Pro-choice groups may have been more visible at the capitol when lawmakers passed restrictive abortion legislation in 2019. But behind the scenes, the Faith and Freedom Coalition was among the conservative groups winning enough votes to pass the controversial legislation, signed by Gov. Brian Kemp.

After President Donald Trump appointed three US Supreme Court justices, the heartbeat bill became law when the court overturned Roe v. Wade.

"We are unapologetically pro-life, but being pro-life doesn't mean you're not pro-women. We are pro-life because we are pro-women. We're pro-family, and... we want to see life expanded," said Mack Parnell, executive director of the Faith and Freedom Coalition Monday.

Vance is expected to address that message and other conservative themes when he speaks to the group on Monday night.

In 2020, we watched Faith and Freedom Coalition volunteers canvassing neighborhoods in Cobb County in what the group described as a voter education drive. This year, its executive director said volunteers have already knocked on 283,000 doors in Georgia.

"The contrast couldn't be clearer," said Democrat Josh McLaurin, who was Vance's roommate when they attended Yale Law School. He said it’s fitting that Vance is the one headlining the Faith and Freedom Coalition meeting.

"Let's be clear. Brian Kemp and JD Vance are headlining a Faith and Freedom Coalition dinner because they are all on the same team -- which is to restrict and criminalize abortion care in this state and around the country," McLaurin added.