Georgia’s abortion laws could be impacted by upcoming Supreme Court rulings

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments Dec. 1 on one of the most significant abortion cases in years, and the aftereffects of its ruling will be felt here in Georgia.

The case of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization has drawn more than 1,000 friend-of-the-court briefs so far — including one from Georgia — on both sides of the issue. 

The case revolves around Mississippi’s abortion law, which bans the procedure after 15 weeks. That is nine weeks fewer than the 24-week precedent established by Roe v. Wade in 1973.

Georgia’s brief was organized by the State Innovation Exchange’s Reproductive Freedom Leadership Council, which describes itself as a “network of state legislators working to advance reproductive health, rights and justice.” 

The brief argues the Supreme Court’s failure to uphold the rule of law and precedent would result in disastrous consequences for women seeking abortions, as well as for their families.  

“State legislators are the first line of defense against policies that deliberately roll back progress on abortion rights and reproductive health across the country, and the overwhelming majority of the public agrees we must protect Roe v. Wade,” said the organization’s Jennifer Driver. “With this amicus brief, nearly 900 legislators are sending the Supreme Court a clear message: We cannot go back. You must uphold 50 years of legal abortion in all 50 states.”  

Georgia’s abortion law is currently tied up in the U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which is waiting on the Supreme Court decision before issuing a ruling. Known as the Living Infants Fairness Equality Act, it seeks to prevent abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected, typically six weeks into pregnancy, except in special situations.

Lawsuits brought by the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights led the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in December 2019 to rule the law unconstitutional. The legislation, which the General Assembly passed earlier that year, had been scheduled to take effect on Jan. 1, 2020.

If the 11th Circuit decides to strike down Georgia’s abortion law in the case — SisterSong v. Kemp — Georgia could appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, which may then look at the law’s constitutionality and reexamine the precedent of the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion on demand.

“A Georgia judge struck down Republicans’ HB (House Bill) 481 last year because the court saw it for what it was — an unconstitutional infringement on the right to choose — and we hope the 11th Circuit Court agrees,” said Rebecca Galanti, spokesperson for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “Democrats will continue to fight at every turn to safeguard reproductive freedom and stop Republicans’ dangerous anti-choice agenda in Georgia.”

State Senate President Pro Tempore Butch Miller, R-Gainesville, disagrees.

“I’ve never subscribed to the idea that it’s unconstitutional to save human lives,” said Miller, who is running for lieutenant governor in 2022 and who also helped author the bill. “With today’s technology, it’s no longer possible to deny the clear humanity of unborn children, even at early stages of pregnancy. Upholding Georgia’s law would send a clear message that we as a society will protect our most vulnerable and defenseless.”

State lawmakers adjourned Nov. 22 after spending several weeks in special session, redrawing legislative and congressional district boundaries in accordance with new U.S. Census data. There was speculation that lawmakers would draft a new abortion law while in special session, but the issue never came up on either chamber’s floor. 

But the issue is almost certain to arise when legislators reconvene for their regular session in January, depending on the Supreme Court’s rulings on abortion bans in both Mississippi and Texas.

A court ruling is expected soon on Texas’ abortion law, which bans the procedure after roughly six weeks, a law that has been in effect since Sept. 1. The law bans abortion once cardiac activity is detected in the fetus, and makes no exceptions for rape or incest. 

Opponents of Georgia’s abortion law are fearful of a Texas-style law in Georgia, if the Supreme Court rules the law is constitutional.

“Texas is showing us what a world without Roe v. Wade looks like — one where wealthier people can travel to get reproductive care while poorer people are stripped of their rights,” said Georgia Rep. Kim Schofield, D-Atlanta. “We can’t let that happen.” 

“What happens in Texas won’t stay in Texas,” said state Rep. Beth Moore, D-Peachtree Corners. “Not every pregnancy is an immaculate conception or a Hollywood-produced drama. There is a limit to what government can impose, and the Republican Party wants to replace God with government.”

While the Georgia and Texas laws are alike in banning abortions once cardiac activity is detected, Texas is different in that leaves enforcement of the law to private citizens through civil lawsuits instead of criminal prosecution.

Miller has told Capitol Beat “everything is on the table” regarding the abortion issue in Georgia. 

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.

Fulton DA: ‘Frightening how many crimes and criminals we’re leaving on the street’

ATLANTA — A passionate Fani Willis told a Georgia House committee on Monday that her Fulton County District Attorney’s office desperately needs stronger laws and more resources to fight crime in her county.

“It’s frightening how many crimes and criminals we are leaving on the street,” said Willis, who ousted incumbent Fulton County DA Paul Howard in 2020. “We cannot do this job in the Dark Ages anymore. We have to come into 2021.”

Willis was testifying before the House Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee, which has been holding hearings for months on Atlanta’s crime rate. State Rep. J Collins, R-Villa Rica, the committee’s chairman, said the panel has been charged with coming up with solutions to the problems.

Willis, who spent 16 years as a Fulton County prosecutor before defeating the six-term Howard, said Atlanta had the fastest-rising crime rate of any major U.S. city during the pandemic.

“As of now, there are 636 defendants indicted for murder in my office,” Willis said. “A total of 208 have been indicted since March, and 184 are waiting to be indicted before the end of the year or they will be released on bond.”

Willis said murders in Fulton County have increased by 48% since 2020 and put special emphasis on combating gang crimes

“There are 71,000 gang members in Georgia,” she said, “and 50,000 of those are in metro Atlanta. “I have to ask for more gang task forces in Georgia.”

Willis also pointed to backlogs in DNA testing, trace evidence collections, and firearms and toxicology reports. 

“In Fulton County, there are 15,000 unworked case reports over the last 30 days,” she said. “Because of the backlog in processing unworked sexual assault kits over the last days, there have been 1,575 preventable crimes.”

“What kinds of criminal scientists do we need in Georgia today?” asked committee Vice Chairman Danny Mathis, R-Cochran. 

“We need every area,” Willis said. “We need forensic biologists, DNA experts. We need a wide variety of scientists. We’re losing good scientists — great scientists — because of pay and other issues.” 

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.  

State Senate passes ‘pretty’ GOP-drawn congressional map; House could approve Monday

ATLANTA — Georgia’s state Senate adopted a Republican-drawn congressional map on Friday over the objections of Senate Democrats.The Georgia House is expected to follow suit on Monday, ending a months-long partisan battle to decide the state’s political future for the next decade.

The GOP-controlled Senate voted along party lines, 32-21, to approve the map.

The General Assembly has been meeting in special session for two weeks as lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries to accommodate changes in population reflected in the 2020 U.S. Census.

Lawmakers have already approved new state House and Senate districts during the last two weeks. 

The map approved Friday adds more white voters to the 6th Congressional District by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population would increase to 63.7%

That makes the reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, problematic at best. McBath won the seat representing East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb counties in 2018 after it had been in Republican hands for decades.

Under the new map, the 7th Congressional District would take in most of Gwinnett County and a portion of North Fulton, increasing its concentration of minority voters and, thus, making it safer for freshman Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Lawrenceville.

The map also makes the 2nd Congressional District in Southwest Georgia held by Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, more competitive by slightly lowering its Black voting-age population (VAP) and raising its white VAP.

State Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, who chairs the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee, continued stressing, as he has over the past several weeks, that all of the new maps have been drawn in a fair and transparent process.

“This map represents all Georgians, and it has not been gerrymandered,” Kennedy said. 

“It’s a pretty map,” he added. “You don’t see funky lines and weirdly drawn lines. It is striking visually.” 

After Kennedy spoke, a dozen Senate Democrats went to the well to criticize majority Republicans for drawing a map that likely will give the GOP a 9-5 advantage in Georgia’s congressional delegation, despite wins by Democrats in recent statewide elections that point to a 50-50 partisan split among Peach State voters.

“These gerrymandered maps are an attempt to subvert the will of the people and protect the party in power,” said state Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta.

“There is a driving force behind these changes,” added Sen. Nikki Merritt, D-Grayson. “We know that is preserving a Republican majority. That’s the elephant in the room.”

Sen. Gail Davenport, D-Jonesboro, accused Republicans of targeting women of color, while state Sen. Donzella James, D-Atlanta, was critical that the GOP map would essentially destroy McBath’s reelection chances.

Kennedy criticized Democrats and the map’s opponents for not presenting their arguments earlier in the process, instead of on the last day of debate. 

“We learned during Thursday’s committee meeting the Georgia Black Legislative Caucus went around the state and gathered all this important information, but no one thought it was good or credible enough to send it to the redistricting committee for inclusion,” Kennedy said.

“Are we talking about real information Democrats want to be included, or are we are just trying to play the game, that our process was insufficient?”

The House redistricting committee will hold a rare Saturday public hearing on the congressional map, with the proposal expected to come before the full chamber on Monday. 

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation. 

Buckhead cityhood bill prefiled by lawmaker

ATLANTA – A metro Atlanta legislator has prefiled a bill that could lead to the creation of what would become Georgia’s 10th largest city.

State Sen. Brandon Beach, R-Alpharetta, prefiled Senate Bill 324 Thursday to let voters decide whether to create the new municipality of Buckhead City.

The new city would carve about 25 square miles out of Atlanta’s current city limits, about 18% of the city’s land area. It would also include about 20% of the city’s population and cost the city of Atlanta more than $250 million in property, sales and lodging taxes, as well as business license revenues.  

Beach’s prefiling means the bill will come up during next year’s regular legislative session. Lawmakers are currently meeting in special session to redraw the state’s legislative and congressional boundaries in accordance with new U.S. Census data.

“Since the summer of 2020, the rise in crime throughout the city of Atlanta has been alarming and has caused many citizens to feel for their safety, even in broad daylight,” said Beach. “Over the past few weeks, we have heard testimony first-hand from Buckhead residents who feel their needs are not currently being addressed and what the proposed incorporation would entail. 

“Now is the time for citizens in the Buckhead neighborhood of Atlanta to have the ability to determine for themselves whether to form their own city and establish services which would be more responsive to their needs.”

Last month, the House Study Committee on Annexation and Cityhood and the House Governmental Affairs Committee heard testimony from several officials about how a city of Buckhead would impact Atlanta and the state.  

Also last month, several Democratic members of the city of Atlanta’s legislative delegation urged Buckhead City supporters to pump the brakes on the proposal.

Bill White, CEO of the Buckhead City Committee, said the new municipality would not financially devastate Atlanta. 

“Buckhead City would keep less than 10% of the city of Atlanta’s annual budget, while reducing Atlanta’s population obligations by 20%,” White said.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation. 

State Senate committee passes Republican-drawn congressional map

ATLANTA – Georgia lawmakers took another step Thursday toward determining the state’s political balance of power for the next decade, as a state Senate committee approved a Republican-drawn congressional map.

Voting 9-5 along party lines, the Senate Reapportionment and Redistricting Committee approved a map aimed at gaining a seat in Georgia’s congressional delegation by making one metro Atlanta district more friendly to the GOP while leaving another solidly in Democratic hands. Georgia’s U.S. House delegation currently consists of eight Republicans and six Democrats.

The map is now headed toward final approval on the floor of the GOP-controlled Senate. The state House of Representatives is still holding hearings on the map.

The General Assembly has been meeting in special session for two weeks as lawmakers redraw legislative and congressional boundaries to accommodate changes in population reflected in the 2020 U.S. Census.

The map approved Thursday adds more white voters to the 6th Congressional District by extending it north through all of Forsyth and Dawson counties and eastern Cherokee County. As a result, the 6th District’s white voting-age population would increase to 66.63%.

That makes the reelection prospects of U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, D-Marietta, problematic at best. McBath won the seat representing East Cobb, North Fulton and North DeKalb counties in 2018 after it had been in Republican hands for decades.

Under the new map, the 7th Congressional District would take in most of Gwinnett County and a portion of North Fulton, increasing its concentration of minority voters and, thus, making it safer for freshman Rep. Carolyn Bourdeaux, D-Lawrenceville.

The Republican map also makes the 2nd Congressional District in Southwest Georgia held by Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, more competitive by slightly lowering its Black voting-age population (VAP) and raising its white VAP.

Before approving the GOP map, the committee rejected — again, along party lines — a Democrat-authored map introduced by Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain. 

The Democratic map made little change to McBath’s district while keeping Bourdeaux’s majority-minority district wholly inside Gwinnett County.

“[The 6th District] will continue to be one of the most competitive in the state under our map,” Butler said.

The Democrats also sought to create an additional majority-minority district by shifting the 10th Congressional District from east Georgia to the western portions of metro Atlanta, reflecting the metro region’s rapid growth during the last decade.

Sen. Michael Rhett, D-Marietta, complained that the Republican map moves the Northwest Georgia district of controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, south into some of the most heavily Black areas of Cobb County.

“That’s not sitting well with my constituents,” he said.

Sen. John Kennedy, R-Macon, the committee’s chairman, said the change was made to meet the legal requirements that all congressional districts be virtually even in population. He said the map has to be viewed as a whole, with populations shifts in each district affecting others.

“None of this is done in a vacuum,” he said.

Late last week and early this week, lawmakers passed new state House and Senate maps amid protests from Democrats that the maps were drawn in secret and without enough time for public comment.

Legislative Democrats and civil and voting rights advocates criticized the Republican congressional map at House and Senate committee hearings Wednesday as ignoring communities of interest in favor of giving the GOP a partisan advantage.

This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.