Carr was an out-of-touch anti-abortion extremist who claimed “life begins at conception.”
As attorney general, Carr defended Georgia’s extreme six-week abortion ban despite concerns it could be harmful to Georgia women. Carr said it was “preposterous” to suggest women who miscarried could be prosecuted under the “personhood provision” in Georgia’s extreme abortion ban. When a brain dead pregnant woman was kept on life support against her family’s wishes, Carr claimed the abortion ban was not responsible for the circumstance. Carr even asked for Georgia’s extreme abortion ban to be enforced while it was under appeal because “unborn children are at risk every day” without it.
October 2022: Carr Denied Claims That The “Personhood Provision” In Georgia’s Abortion Ban Would Put Pregnant Women At Risk Of Being Prosecuted For Having Miscarriages. According to Atlanta Magazine, “The LIFE Act, which went into effect after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe in June, bans most abortions after six weeks, when trace fetal cardiac activity can be detected. It also contains a so-called ‘personhood provision’, which confers legal rights on a fetus after the same six-week threshold. Supporters of the law say it’s not meant to prosecute women who obtain abortions, only medical providers who perform abortions or people who support those seeking them. But some legal experts warn that the personhood provision could lead to criminal charges against people who, even unintentionally, injure or kill a fetus, including the pregnant person. And while the law states that naturally occurring miscarriages will not be prosecuted, medical experts say there is significant overlap between treatment and symptoms of miscarriage and abortion, and some are concerned about invasive scrutiny of their patients if prosecutors begin investigating pregnancy loss. During the debate, Carr was emphatic that the abortion law excludes pregnant women from criminal penalties for abortion. ‘There is absolutely nothing in the statute that would say a pregnant woman would be prosecuted.’ He added that attorneys general do not have authorization for prosecuting, adding, ‘it would be up to the district attorneys to make that determination.’” [Atlanta Magazine, 10/19/22]
May 2025: Carr Denied Claims That Georgia’s Heartbeat Abortion Ban Required A Pregnant Woman To Be Kept On Life Support After Brain Death Despite Georgia Doctors Citing The Law When They Refused To Take A Brain Dead Pregnant Woman Off Life Support Against Her Family’s Wishes. According to 11Alive, “Setzler was the Georgia lawmaker who introduced – and barely passed – the state’s LIFE Act, known as the ‘heartbeat law,’ in 2019. The measure roiled the Capitol with protests as it restricted abortions to no later than six weeks gestation with the backing of the state’s newly elected governor, Brian Kemp. Now, the family of Adriana Smith says Emory University doctors have cited that law, as they keep the pregnant mother on life support as a fetus inside her grows. […] Friday afternoon, Attorney General Chris Carr's communications office issued a statement saying, ‘There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death. Removing life support is not an action with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,’ wrote Carr's spokeswoman Kara Murray. She added ‘our prayers go out’ to the woman's family.” [11Alive, 5/16/25]
October 2024: Carr Asked Georgia’s Supreme Court To Enforce A Six-Week Abortion Ban While The State Appealed A Decision To Throw Out The Ban, Saying “Unborn Children Are At Risk Every Day That The Injunction Continues.” According to the Georgia Recorder, “Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr has asked the state Supreme Court to allow Georgia’s six-week abortion ban to be enforced again while the state’s appeal is being considered. The six-week ban was tossed aside Monday when Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert C. I. McBurney ruled that it conflicts with the Georgia Constitution’s privacy and liberty protections. […] Carr has appealed the ruling and is arguing that more harm would be done by letting expanded abortion services continue while the appeal is pending than not. ‘The harm to the State and the public is significant and irreparable, as unborn children are at risk every day that the injunction continues. This Court granted a stay in nearly identical circumstances two years ago, and it should do the same here,’ reads the state’s petition for emergency intervention. The state’s attorneys argue that the ban should be restored because they say the state is likely to succeed in having the lower court’s ruling overturned, partly because they argue the Georgia Constitution is – and always has been – silent on abortion.” [Georgia Recorder, 10/2/24]
July 2022: Carr Called Himself “Pro-Life” And Said He Believed “Life Begins At Conception,” But Said “What Your Personal Feelings Are Don’t Matter” As Attorney General. According to Carr on Word on the Street, “I’m raised Catholic. I'm a practicing Catholic. I'm pro-life. And I believe that life begins at conception. I know that this has been a big issue for the pro-life movement and conservatives for a long time. But, you know, one of the things that I do think it's important, particularly when you are the attorney general, what your personal feelings are don't matter. It's what the laws of the state are.” [Chris Carr – Word On The Street, 7/21/22] (AUDIO)
January 2025: Carr Said “Defending Life” Was A “Constitutional, Legal, Spiritual, And Moral Issue,” And Included Defending The “Unborn.” According to Carr at the Georgia Faith & Freedom Legislative Luncheon, “My job is to defend the Constitution of the United States Constitution and laws of the state of Georgia and to represent the people of this state. But I wake up every day and I pray that I also do God's will. And that is why one particular principle really guides me, and that is the belief in the dignity, the value and the worth of every human being. And it starts with defending life. Now, that to me is a constitutional it's a legal, spiritual and moral issue. But since we're here to talk politics, let's go back to what the founding fathers said in the Declaration of Independence. We are endowed by our creator with life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And my friends, they put it in that order for a reason. You cannot pursue happiness if you don't have liberty. And you don't have liberty if you don't have life. That's why it's the pinnacle. And that's why I defend life. And when I say that I also mean the unborn. I believe the unborn are the most vulnerable, and they deserve to be defended as well. And that's why I proudly do it.” [Chris Carr – Georgia Faith & Freedom Legislative Luncheon, 1/31/25] (VIDEO)