One of the most significant conservative legislative victories in Georgia in recent years was the LIFE Act, which people colloquially call the “heartbeat bill.” That bill was a key pro-life initiative, and it was one of the hallmarks of Gov. Brian Kemp’s first term.
Yet Kemp’s handpicked candidate for the 2026 Senate battle against Sen. Jon Ossoff, Derek Dooley, gave a non-answer when the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein asked him if he supported the measure. Speaking with Bluestein on the “Politically Georgia” podcast, the failed football coach claimed that he shouldn’t have an opinion on the law since he’s running for the U.S. Senate and abortion is a state issue.
Bluestein asked the pretty simple question: “Do you support the state's abortion limits passed in 2019 with Gov. Kemp's signature?”
“Well, the states, like I said, they should be in charge of it,” Dooley replied. “As a senator, I need to stay out of it and not have an opinion on it because the federal government is — needs to not weigh in. We tried that for 40 years, and it's — all it did was create a level of division in our country that was probably worse than any other issue.”
I suppose Dooley thought that his non-answer would suffice since it’s not an issue the U.S. Senate is likely to take up anytime soon, but Bluestein didn’t ask Dooley if he would push for it as federal legislation. He asked Dooley for his thoughts on it as a Georgian. And he wouldn’t answer.
Contrast this with Rep. Mike Collins, who is also running for the GOP nomination for this Senate seat. His pro-life bona fides are unquestionable, and he has even gone on record supporting the LIFE Act.
Related: All Gas, No Brakes: Mike Collins’ 159-County Blitz for U.S. Senate
You would think that Dooley would have plenty of positive things to say about one of Kemp’s biggest legislative achievements as governor, especially since Kemp’s Hardworking Americans PAC is bankrolling Dooley’s campaign. I get emails asking for donations to the PAC for Dooley every day, and I can’t escape ads for him on streaming channels.
“There are 2,269,924 winning ways to answer a question whether one supports Georgia’s Heartbeat Law. All of them begin with ‘Yes,’” Cole Muzio, president of Frontline Policy Action, posted on X. “I encourage anyone hoping to win a Republican nomination and have the Christian support to win in November to be unapologetically #prolife #gapol”
“As a prolife advocate and conservative legislator who fought to defend Georgia’s heartbeat bill against people like Stacey Abrams and Kamala Harris, it's tonedeaf to not be able to say you think it's good legislation,” posted state Senate candidate Lauren Daniel.
This is pretty much on-brand for Dooley. This is the guy who failed to vote in multiple presidential elections and blamed it on his coaching career — I guess it’s tough to vote on a Tuesday when the games are on Saturday. He also refused to register as a Republican in states where he lived, even though his wife did. He never donated to President Donald Trump despite these endless ads touting Dooley as “pro-Trump.” (To be fair, donations aren’t the only measure of support, but it’s telling.)
As big a supporter of Kemp as I am, I can’t figure out for the life of me why he’s pushing Dooley so hard. It doesn’t take a political science degree to tell that Dooley is over his skis in this race, and if he can’t vocally support conservative policies, he’s going to have a tough time going toe-to-toe with Ossoff.
Dooley fumbled. Don’t let the Left recover.
When Derek Dooley was asked about Georgia’s pro-life Heartbeat Bill, he punted. That may be fine for a failed coach, but it’s no way to win the fight for our values. At PJ Media, we don’t dodge the tough questions or run out of bounds when the game is on the line. We tell the truth plainly, call the plays that matter, and fight for the conservative victories that define our future.
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