A group of black religious ministers published a letter Friday pleading with Georgia Democratic Senate candidate Raphael Warnock to have a change of heart on abortion.
The ministers called Warnock's pro-abortion stance a "scandal to the faith and to the Black community," the Atlanta Journal Constitution reported. They accused the pastor-turned-politician of "making excuses for racism in the abortion industry" and criticized him for misrepresenting the Bible's discussion of human life.
"As a Christian pastor and as a Black leader, you have a duty to denounce the evil of abortion, which kills a disproportionate number of Black children," the ministers wrote. "Your open advocacy of abortion is a scandal to the faith and to the Black community."
Warnock has repeatedly described himself as "an advocate for reproductive justice" during his campaign against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R.). The ministers criticized him for cloaking his support for abortion in the language of abortion rights groups.
"Couching abortion in the language of 'reproductive justice' may be savvy marketing, but killing an innocent human life has nothing to do either with reproduction or with justice," the group wrote.
Warnock has advocated for abortion during the campaign, saying his time as a reverend gave him "an abiding respect for choice." He also touted Planned Parenthood's endorsement of his candidacy, despite the group's roots in the racist eugenics movement.
The ministers argued Warnock is failing black communities that see disproportionately high rates of abortion. "Killing Black lives, especially killing unborn Black lives, does nothing but brutalize and scar vulnerable Black communities who are already suffering so much," they wrote.
Warnock will face off against Loeffler in a runoff election on Jan. 5. That election, along with the contest between Sen. David Perdue (R., Ga.) and Democrat Jon Ossoff on the same day, will determine control of the Senate.