Marjorie Dannenfelser: Kelly Loeffler 'Disqualified' for Senate Appointment

Marjorie Dannenfelser said Wednesday that business executive Kelly Loeffler should be “disqualified” as an appointee for the U.S. Senate due to her affiliation with hospitals that serve as an “abortionist training hub.”

As Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-GA) will soon retire from the U.S. Senate, Gov. Kemp has two primary choices to fill his seat for the remainder of his term: either business executive Kelly Loeffler or House Judiciary Committee ranking member Doug Collins (R-GA).

President Trump has increasingly pressured Kemp to back Rep. Collins for the Senate seat, while Kemp prefers Loeffler for the seat.

Breitbart News has reported how Loeffler has concerning ties to Democrat icon Stacey Abrams, and also that her basketball team, the Atlanta Dream, has promoted the abortion provider Planned Parenthood. Loeffler has also donated $750,000 to Mitt Romney’s failed 2012 presidential campaign, as well as hundreds of thousands of dollars to former Speaker Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) campaigns and PACs.

Loeffler’s lack of political experience as well as what many conservatives call concerning ties to Planned Parenthood and establishment Republicans has prompted many conservatives to urge the governor to pick Collins over Loeffler.

On Wednesday, several pro-life groups, including the Concerned Women for America, Susan B. Anthony’s (SBA List) List, and the March for Life, came out against Loeffler.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the SBA List, objected to Loeffler’s position as a member of the board of directors of the Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. Dannenfelser called the hospital an “abortionist training hub.”

“Kelly Loeffler should be disqualified as a GA Senate appointment. She’s on the board of Grady Memorial Hospital, largest abortion provider in the state,” Dannenfelser said. “Grady is an abortionist training hub. Its doctors are leading advocates AGAINST @BrianKempGA pro-life laws.”

Tom McClusky, the president of the March for Life, said, “After the Senate gains made by conservative and pro-life candidates in the 2018 election, this would be a huge setback” if Loeffler were appointed.

Peggy Young Nance, the leader of the Concerned Women for America, blasted Loeffler for her affiliation with Planned Parenthood and for giving thousands of dollars to liberal and “pro-abortion” candidates.

Other conservative activists such as FreedomWorks vice president Jason Pye, Tea Party Patriots cofounder Jenny Beth Martin, and conservative activist Debbie Dooley have backed Collins over Loeffler.

President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., has also backed Rep. Collins for the Senate seat. Fox News host Sean Hannity also backed Collins over Loeffler on Tuesday night.

Hannity said during an interview with Rep. Collins that he would “urge” Kemp to appoint Collins, calling the Georgia conservative a “Republican with a backbone.”

Kemp on Wednesday attempted to reassure Georgia’s conservative base that he continues to back the president and called many of the attacks levied against his preferred nominee “absurd.”

Collins told Politico last week that he would consider running for the Georgia Senate Republican primary in 2020 even if he were not appointed by Kemp, meaning that if Loeffler were appointed, she would face a difficult primary race soon after going into office.

One Georgia Republican strategist said that the idea that Kemp’s recent meeting with President Trump did not go well put the Georgia governor “in a bind.”

“Now he’s got to be out there publicly defying the president, which is not good, or he’s going to be forced into picking somebody he doesn’t want to pick,” the GOP consultant said. “He’s in a really, really tough spot.”