ATLANTA – Women in Georgia would be prohibited from obtaining abortion-inducing drugs through the mail without seeing a doctor under legislation that cleared the state Senate Tuesday.
The bill, which passed 31-22 and now moves to the Georgia House of Representatives, targets providing such drugs through telemedicine, a practice the Biden administration authorized last year as a pandemic measure.
“Telemedicine may be appropriate in certain instances but not when it places a patient in grave danger,” said Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, the bill’s chief sponsor. “This bill is about assuring powerful drugs such as these are prescribed as intended.”
But Senate Democrats accused the bill’s Republican backers of trying to make abortions more difficult to get – particularly for low-income women in rural communities – rather than protecting women.
Sen. Kim Jackson, D-Stone Mountain, said telemedicine is a critical option in a state where half of the 159 counties don’t have an ob-gyn.
“This bill is really about access to health care,” she said. “Without access, there can be no equity in health care.”
Other Democrats said abortion-inducing drugs have been thoroughly studied and proven safe.
But Thompson said some women have died after taking abortion-inducing drugs without the supervision of a qualified physician.
“This bill’s about protecting women,” he said. “It’s about the health and safety of women.
This story isavailable through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – Women seeking an abortion in Georgia would not be able to obtain abortion-inducing drugs without an in-person exam by a qualified physician under legislation that cleared a state Senate committee Wednesday.
The bill targets mail-order prescriptions of abortion-inducing drugs authorized by the federal Food and Drug Administration last year in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
“These drugs were never intended to be provided without the direct involvement of a health-care worker,” Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, the bill’s chief sponsor, told members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee. “These drugs were never intended to be delivered through the mail.”
Representatives of anti-abortion groups testified in support of the bill.
Katie Glenn, a lawyer for Washington, D.C.-based Americans United for Life, said an estimated 27.000 American women went to a hospital emergency room last year reporting complications from taking an abortion-induced drug.
“There are abortionists who are willing to mail out abortion-inducing drugs without ever seeing a patient, even on video,” she said.
“If we’re going to be a state that values life, we’re going to have to protect women,” added Mike Griffin, public affairs representative for the Georgia Baptist Mission Board.
But several obstetrician-gynecologists spoke out against the legislation, arguing that medication abortions are safe and that to prohibit them would restrict women’s access to health care.
Staci Fox, president and CEO of Atlanta-based Planned Parenthood Southeast, accused Republican lawmakers of pushing the bill for political gain.
She said the measure is unnecessary because Georgia already has a strong anti-abortion measure on the books, a 2019 law essentially banning abortions after six weeks of pregnancy. The law is awaiting a U.S. Supreme Court ruling before it can be enforced.
“Abortion has already been decided by this state,” Fox said.
The Democratic Party of Georgia issued a statement in advance of Wednesday’s vote criticizing the bill.
“Republicans’ latest anti-choice bill is a shameful, transparent attempt to place more obstacles between Georgians and essential reproductive health care,” party spokeswoman Rebecca Galanti said. “Georgia Democrats remain committed to safeguarding reproductive freedom.”
The committee passed Thompson’s bill 7-5, voting along party lines. It now heads to the Senate Rules Committee to schedule a floor vote.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
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.
ATLANTA – The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals has issued a stay on an appeal of Georgia’s controversial abortion law, pending the outcome of an upcoming U.S. Supreme Court abortion case.
The court made the announcement on SisterSong v Kemp Monday night.
The Supreme Court case in question is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which has the potential to challenge Roe v. Wade. The case involves a Mississippi abortion law and will be heard by the Supreme Court on Dec. 1.
Last Friday, the appellate court heard arguments appealing Georgia’s law, known as the Living Infants Fairness Equality Act, which seeks to prevent abortions after a fetal heartbeat has been detected, typically six weeks into pregnancy, except in special situations.
During the arguments, the justices seemed inclined to stay the appeal until the Supreme Court decides on the Mississippi case.
Lawyers on both sides of the case had no objections to the court’s inclinations to stay the case.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
ATLANTA – The U.S. 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard oral arguments Friday on Georgia’s controversial abortion law, and justices said they were inclined to wait on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on a Mississippi abortion law before issuing a ruling.
“That would be the prudent way to proceed,” said Justice William Pryor during the hearing, which was livestreamed on the court’s website. Attorneys on both sides of the case – Jeffrey Harris for the state of Georgia and Gov. Brian Kemp, and Elizabeth Watson, representing SisterSong – said they had no issue with the court delaying a decision.
Georgia’s abortion law – known as the Living Infants Fairness Equality Act – 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 agrees with the district judge on SisterSong v. Kemp, Georgia could then 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.
The Mississippi case coming before the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 1 is Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which has the potential to challenge Roe v. Wade. The case has drawn more than 1,000 friend-of-the-court briefs so far from groups on both sides of the issue.
This story is available through a news partnership with Capitol Beat News Service, a project of the Georgia Press Educational Foundation.
