The U.S. Supreme Court has overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 opinion that legalized abortion in America. Many states, including Georgia, are now expected to limit or ban abortion.
In 2019, the Georgia General Assembly approved the so-called “heartbeat bill” that would ban abortions once a physician could hear fetal cardiac activity. Fetal cardiac activity can be heard with an ultrasound after about six weeks of pregnancy, barely enough time for a person to learn they are pregnant.
Abortion rights activists sued over the bill and the case has been held up in a federal district court of appeals as judges await the Supreme Court’s decision. With today’s opinion, the ACLU of Georgia said in a statement that “the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will likely soon take action to ultimately put Georgia’s 6-week abortion ban into effect.”
“The ACLU of Georgia is committed to using every tool at our disposal to keep abortion safe and legal in Georgia,” said Andrea Young, Executive Director of the ACLU of Georgia. “Women must be able to make these personal, private, decisions for themselves with their own families, their own faith and their own physicians without interference from politicians.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp released a statement on Twitter, saying the Supreme Court ruling is a “historic victory for life.”
Kemp said, “I look forward to its impact on the legal proceeding surrounding Georgia’s LIFE Act, and hope our law will be fully implemented and ultimately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach State.”
Stacey Abrams, Democratic nominee for governor, said in a statement that she is enraged “that our bodily autonomy has been ruled fungible rather than fundamental.” She said, if elected governor, she would fight to defend the right to choose and veto any legislation that further restricts abortion rights.
“The reversal of Roe v. Wade will not stop abortions,” Abrams said. “This mean-spirited, political decision will only prevent access to safe abortions and exacerbate crises in our state by preventing medical professionals from providing their patients with lifesaving care.”
Shortly after the announcement was made, Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens issued the following statement:
“I am sickened by this decision that wrongly and immorally tells women that their bodies are not their own. The choice to have an abortion is one of the hardest decisions of many women’s lives. That choice is informed by a wide variety of factors, and government should not have a role in denying that choice.
“As a straight man, I have never been told by the government when, whether or how to start and raise my family. Make no mistake: this ruling will most grotesquely impact women of color and those who do not have the resources to travel to find safe and high-quality health care outside their communities where reproductive services are made illegal.
“I oppose this decision.”
Earlier this week, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution stating that no city funds will be used to investigate abortion care and urged the Atlanta Police Department to make investigations of abortion care the lowest priority.
DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston in a lengthy statement vows not to prosecute individuals pursuant to the Heartbeat Bill, saying she believes it is a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her body and medical care.
“It is my duty to proceed with prosecutions that are in the best interest of the community for which I was elected to serve, and to lead with an eye toward public safety,” Boston said. “Criminalizing abortion undermines public safety and public trust. Further, it threatens the lives, health, and well-being of marginalized individuals whose access to safe abortion procedures will be restricted greater than others.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) said in a media statement: “I’ve always believed a patient’s room is too small a space for a woman, her doctor and the United States government. The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ends a core protection for women to make their own health care decisions, and is a departure from our American ideals to recognize and protect basic rights. This misguided decision is devastating for women and families in Georgia and nationwide.”
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-GA) said in a statement: “Today, every woman in America has been made less free. Today, extremists on the Supreme Court have stripped away a woman’s right to make choices about her own reproductive health care. Today, our nation’s highest court has rolled back the clock and stripped women of their liberty.”
State Sen. Elena Parent (D-Atlanta), who represents areas including Brookhaven and Decatur, said on Twitter that she’s never seen women’s equality go backward in her lifetime until now.
State Rep. Shea Roberts (D-Sandy Springs) on Twitter urged people to take action at the polls. “Let’s show Republican politicians we cannot and will not let them take away our right to medical privacy and bodily autonomy come November,” she said.
State Sen. Jen Jordan (D-Atlanta) also urged Georgians to vote in November and called Georgia “the next battleground for reproductive freedom” in a statement on her Twitter account. Jordan is running for attorney general.
“There is no doubt as to the unprecedented nature of today’s opinion and the horrific consequences that lay ahead,” Jordan said. “Never before has the U.S. Supreme Court stripped existing and established fundamental rights from citizens of this country. Rights that have protected the health and safety of women across the nation for almost fifty years.”
Bee Nguyen, the Democratic nominee for Georgia Secretary of State, said in a statement that “so many lives are about to be derailed or lost altogether” following the court’s decision.
“Georgia has one of the highest mother mortality rates in the nation, with Black women dying at a higher rate than any other women. Now, more urgently than ever, the mission of protecting reproductive rights rests with voters – and the mission of protecting voters’ voices depends on electing pro-democracy, pro-choice leaders.”
This story will be updated with more reactions as we get them.
