Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett’s $1 million women’s health grant funding proposal was denied during a meeting on Dec. 3.
Other requests by Barrett to seek the repeal of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban and to establish a women’s commission also failed in tight votes.
“What I’m proposing today with this resolution is a $1 million healthy women Healthy Families grant program to fund nonprofit organizations that are focused on everything from women’s cancers like breast cancer and ovarian cancer to heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for women in Georgia, to domestic violence, to reproductive and maternal health,” Barrett said.
The closure of two Wellstar hospitals in Fulton County has worsened the health crisis, Barrett said.
“I am in support of women’s health and healthy families, for darn sure and but I don’t think from a public policy standpoint, this is the best way to make use of taxpayer money to have an impact on those issues,” Commissioner Bob Ellis said.
Ellis said the commission should continue to work with the Fulton County Board of Health and Grady Hospital to affect health outcomes, such as the opening of an emergency department in South Fulton.
Barrett’s proposal for a Fulton County Women’s Commission also failed.
“What I’m asking for today is that we establish a Women’s Commission for Fulton County that will advise us on policies, strategies, and community partnerships that best address gender inequity and the systemic barriers that impact women,” Barrett said.
Commissioner Mo Ivory supported the women’s commission. She said she couldn’t understand why any women on the county commission would vote against a women’s commission, as it is the one area where they should all be able to agree.
Before the vote, Pitts said commissioners could form the entity without a vote. He said he set up a women’s commission out of his elected office to advise him on women’s issues.
Barrett’s resolution to urge the General Assembly to repeal of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban across the state also failed.
She asked for passage of the resolution a few hours before the commission was scheduled to meet with a legislative delegation. Barrett said it was important to affirm that reproductive rights are human rights. The resolution would also stand against the criminalization of women seeking care for miscarriages or the doctors who provide that treatment.
Commissioner Khadijah Abdur-Rahman called the measure a “feel-good” resolution. She said she was pro-choice when she walked the streets of Washington, D.C., in support, and when pregnant people with no place to live called her county commission office.
“I personally don’t feel that this resolution does anything to change what has happened at the state,” Abdur-Rahman said.
Testifying before the General Assembly and having conversations with the legislators who made the decision to approve the abortion ban could make a difference, Abdur-Rahman said.