Abortion in Georgia (U.S. state)

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Abortion in Georgia is legal up to the detection of an embryonic heartbeat, which typically begins in the 5th or 6th week after the onset of the last menstrual period (LMP) or in two to three weeks after implantation.[1] This law came into force on July 20, 2022, almost a month after the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) ruling.[2][3] In 2007, mandatory ultrasound requirements were passed by state legislators. Georgia has continually sought to legislate against abortion at a state level since 2011. The most recent example, 2019's HB 481,[4] sought to make abortion illegal as soon as an embryonic (or fetal) heartbeat can be detected; in most cases that is around the six-week mark of a pregnancy. Many women are not aware they are pregnant at this time.[5] An injunction was issued against this bill by a federal judge, who ruled that it contravened the Supreme Court's 1973 ruling. A poll conducted by the Pew Research Center in 2014 found that 49% of Georgians believed abortions should be illegal in all or most cases vs 48% legal in all or most cases.[6]

The number of abortion clinics has been on the decline for many years, going from 82 in 1982 to 55 in 1992 and further falling to 17 in 2014. Due to tight restrictions in neighboring states, as well as cost issues, thousands of women come from out of state to have abortions in Georgia. There were 30,013 legal abortions in 2014, and 31,009 in 2015. 14.5% of all abortions carried out in 2015 were for out of state residents.[7] There is an active abortion rights movement in the state. This received a surge in donations following the passing of the state's controversial 2019 bill. Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. On July 20, 2022, this six-week abortion ban became law, instituting the current ban after the detection of an embryonic heartbeat.[1]

Abortions after the fifth or sixth week of pregnancy are decriminalized in the Georgia cities of Atlanta[8] and Savannah.[9]

History

Thousands of women came from out of state in 2015 to get abortions in North Carolina and Georgia. 14.5% of all abortions in Georgia that year were for out-of-state residents, while 7.5% of all abortions performed in North Carolina were performed for out-of-state residents. This contrasted to neighboring South Carolina, where only 5.9% of abortions performed in the state involved out-of-state residents.

Status of the "heartbeat bills", i.e. abortion bans at around 6 weeks, by state (exceptions not marked):
  Heartbeat bills supplemented or rendered moot by abortion bans at all stages
  Abortion bans at all stages, but heartbeat bills blocked
  Other states with abortion bans at all stages, or states without abortion providers
  Heartbeat bill in force, without total abortion bans
  Heartbeat law partially passed by state legislature
  Law passed but blocked or struck down by court order

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Arkansas, Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, New Mexico, North Carolina and Oregon made reforms to their abortion laws, with most of these states providing more detailed medical guidance on when therapeutic abortions could be performed.[10] In 1962, the American Law Institute published their model penal code as it applied to abortions with three circumstances where they believed a physician could justifiably perform an abortion, "If ... there is substantial risk that the continuance of the pregnancy would gravely impair the physical or mental health of the mother or that the child would be born with grave physical or mental defect, or that the pregnancy resulted from rape, incest, or other felonious intercourse." In 1968, Georgia implemented a version of this but created an exception where they did not allow abortion in the case of incest.[11]

The state passed a law in the 2000s banning abortions at 22 weeks because they alleged that fetuses can feel pain.[12] The state was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement.[13] Georgia, Michigan, Arkansas and Idaho all required that women must be provided the option by an abortion clinic to view an image of their fetus if an ultrasound is used prior to the abortion taking place.[14] Informed consent materials about fetal pain at 20-weeks in Arkansas, Georgia and Oklahoma say, "the unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain."  The Journal of the American Medical Association has concluded that pain sensors do not develop in the fetus until between weeks 23 and 30.[14] Georgia and Wisconsin were two of the only 22 states with written informed consent materials referring women to "crisis pregnancy centers" which acknowledged these centers did not support or provide women with abortion related services.[14]

In 2011, the state was one of six where the legislature introduced a bill that would have banned abortion in almost all cases. It did not pass.[15] This was repeated in 2012, where the state was one of three to unsuccessfully try to ban abortion.[15]

The law as of March 2019 required that women wait 24 hours after their initial appointment for an abortion before they could have a second appointment for the actual procedure. This could be waived in case of medical emergency, allowing a woman to receive mandatory counseling over the phone or via a website.[16] State law at the time prohibited health insurance companies on public exchanges from offering abortion services unless the life of the woman was at risk.[16]

Georgia had a six-week abortion ban slated to go into effect in 2019, which would have made it illegal to obtain an abortion in the state once embryonic or fetal cardiac electrical activity could be detected. The law made no exception for cases of rape or incest and mandated a penalty in prison for doctors who perform the procedure, but noted specifically that this was not referring to the women who get this procedure done.[17] Rep. Ed Setzler introduced that law, HB 481, in the Georgia House of Representatives on February 25, 2019.[18] During his campaign for Governor, Brian Kemp, now the Governor of Georgia, "vow[ed] to sign the toughest abortion laws in the country" and when asked about litigation, said, "bring it! I'll fight for life at the Capitol and in the courtroom."[19] After being passed in the House on March 7, 2019, HB 481 was passed out of a Senate committee on March 18, 2019.[20][21] It was subsequently passed by the entire state Senate, after which it was narrowly passed by the House 92–78.[22] The bill was signed by Governor Kemp on May 7, 2019.[23] Georgia was one of several states passing similar bills in April and May 2019, alongside Missouri, Louisiana, and Alabama.[24] However, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state in June 2019 and sought an injunction against enforcement of the bill before it would go into effect in January 2020. The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under Judge Steve C. Jones. Jones ruled in favor of the injunction to block enforcement in his decision in October 2019, stating "By banning pre-viability abortions, H.B. 481 violates the constitutional right to privacy, which, in turn, inflicts per se irreparable harm on Plaintiffs."[25] In July 2020, the bill was ruled unconstitutional by Judge Jones.[26]

In June 24, 2022, the Atlanta City Council passed a resolution to decriminalize abortion after the sixth week of pregnancy.[8]

In an audio from a campaign stop in Blakely on October 13, 2022, Governor Brian Kemp said he "liked the idea" of a "statewide ban on the destruction of embryos" regardless of the reason or the health risk to the mother.

Following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022, the United States maternal and infant mortality rate rose for the first time in 20 years. More than 30 states saw at least slight rises in infant mortality rates in 2022, but four had statistically significant increases - Georgia, Iowa, Missouri and Texas.[27]

Judicial history

The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.[10][28] However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, No. 19-1392, 597 U.S. ___ (2022) later in 2022.[2][3] In 1973, the US Supreme Court also ruled in a case named Doe v. Bolton. The 7–2 ruling invalidated the law in Georgia that said a woman needed to seek and attain permission from three physicians before she could have an abortion performed on her. The Court said Georgia's law put too many restrictions on women seeking to get abortions, making it unconstitutional.[28][29]

Number of abortion clinics in Georgia by year

After HB 481 was passed in May 2019, the American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood, and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state and sought an injunction against enforcement of the ban before it would go into effect in January 2020. The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under Judge Steve C. Jones. Jones ruled in favor of the injunction to block enforcement in his decision in October 2019, stating "By banning pre-viability abortions, H.B. 481 violates the constitutional right to privacy, which, in turn, inflicts per se irreparable harm on Plaintiffs."[25]

The Georgia Supreme Court on November 23, 2022 reinstated the state’s ban on abortions for fetal process after 6 weeks of pregnancy. The decision was made based on scientific processes where cardiac activity is detected via ultrasound around 6 weeks in the pregnancy stage.[30] On October 24, 2023, considering a challenge to the ban, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the ban and sent the case back to Fulton County Superior Court.[31]

Statistics

In the period between 1972 and 1974, the state had an illegal abortion mortality rate per million women aged 15–44 of between 0.1 and 0.9.[32] In 1990, 796,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy.[33] In 2010, the state had eight publicly funded abortions, of which all eight were federally funded.[34] In 2014, 49% of adults said in a poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases with 48% believing it should be legal.[6]

According to a 2020 study, the 22-week law reduced the number of abortions after 21 weeks.[35]

Number of reported abortions, abortion rate and percentage change in rate by geographic region and state in 1992, 1995 and 1996[36]
Census division and state Number Rate % change 1992–1996
1992 1995 1996 1992 1995 1996
South Atlantic 269,200 261,990 263,600 25.9 24.6 24.7 –5
Delaware 5,730 5,790 4,090 35.2 34.4 24.1 –32
District of Columbia 21,320 21,090 20,790 138.4 151.7 154.5 12
Florida 84,680 87,500 94,050 30 30 32 7
Georgia 39,680 36,940 37,320 24 21.2 21.1 –12
Maryland 31,260 30,520 31,310 26.4 25.6 26.3 0
North Carolina 36,180 34,600 33,550 22.4 21 20.2 –10
South Carolina 12,190 11,020 9,940 14.2 12.9 11.6 –19
Virginia 35,020 31,480 29,940 22.7 20 18.9 –16
West Virginia 3,140 3,050 2,610 7.7 7.6 6.6 –14
Number, rate, and ratio of reported abortions, by reporting area of residence and occurrence and by percentage of abortions obtained by out-of-state residents, US CDC estimates
Location Residence Occurrence % obtained by

out-of-state residents

Year Ref
No. Rate^ Ratio^^ No. Rate^ Ratio^^
Georgia 39,680 24 1992 [36]
Georgia 36,940 21.2 1995 [36]
Georgia 37,320 21.1 1996 [36]
Georgia 26,563 12.6 203 30,013 14.3 229 12.3 2014 [37]
Georgia 26,835 12.7 204 31,009 14.6 236 14.5 2015 [7]
Georgia 29,631 13.9 228 33,811 15.9 260 13.4 2016 [38]
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births

Abortion Rights Views and Activities

Following the leak of the overturning of Roe v. Wade on May 2, 2022, in Georgia there were protests in Athens, Atlanta, and Savannah. On May 21, a protest occurred in Augusta. When Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022, hundreds of abortion rights protestors gathered in Atlanta.[39] A group of abortion rights protestors stayed on the Georgia State Capitol steps for over a week following the protests.[40]

Anti-Abortion Views and Activities

Violence

Eric Robert Rudolph admitted, as part of a plea deal for the Centennial Olympic Park bombing at the 1996 Olympic Games to placing a pair of bombs that exploded at the Northside Family Planning Services clinic in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs in January 1997, in addition to a bombing at a clinic in Birmingham, Alabama in 1998 that killed an off-duty police officer. He was found guilty of the crimes and received four consecutive life sentences as a result.[41]

Footnotes


References

  1. ^ a b Veronica Stracqualursi (20 July 2022). "Federal appeals court allows Georgia's six-week abortion ban to take effect immediately". CNN. Retrieved 2022-07-21.
  2. ^ a b de Vogue, Arinne (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade". CNN. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  3. ^ a b Howe, Amy (June 24, 2022). "Supreme Court overturns constitutional right to abortion". SCOTUSblog. Archived from the original on June 24, 2022. Retrieved June 24, 2022.
  4. ^ "Georgia General Assembly". www.legis.ga.gov. Retrieved 2022-05-07.
  5. ^ Branum, Amy M.; Ahrens, Katherine A. (April 2017) [23 July 2016]. "Trends in Timing of Pregnancy Awareness Among US Women". Maternal and Child Health Journal. 21 (4): 715–726. doi:10.1007/s10995-016-2155-1. ISSN 1092-7875. PMC 5269518. PMID 27449777.
  6. ^ a b "Views about abortion by state - Religion in America: U.S. Religious Data, Demographics and Statistics". Pew Research Center. Retrieved June 27, 2022.
  7. ^ a b Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2018). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2015". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 67 (13): 1–45. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6713a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 30462632.
  8. ^ a b Raymond, Jonathan; Haney, Adrianne. "Atlanta City Council approves resolution to make abortion law violations 'lowest possible priority'". WXIA-TV. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  9. ^ Syed, Camille (July 22, 2022). "Savannah City Council adopts resolution supporting women's reproductive rights". WTOC. Retrieved September 28, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Buell, Samuel (1991-01-01). "Criminal Abortion Revisited". New York University Law Review. 66 (6): 1774–1831. PMID 11652642.
  11. ^ Tyler, C. W. (1983). "The public health implications of abortion". Annual Review of Public Health. 4: 223–258. doi:10.1146/annurev.pu.04.050183.001255. ISSN 0163-7525. PMID 6860439.
  12. ^ Times, The New York. "Abortion Restrictions in States". archive.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  13. ^ "STATE POLICY ON INFORMED CONSENT FOR ABORTION" (PDF). Guttmacher Policy Review. Fall 2007. Retrieved May 22, 2019.
  14. ^ a b c "State Abortion Counseling Policies and the Fundamental Principles of Informed Consent". Guttmacher Institute. 2007-11-12. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  15. ^ a b Lai, K. K. Rebecca (2019-05-15). "Abortion Bans: 8 States Have Passed Bills to Limit the Procedure This Year". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  16. ^ a b Emanuella Grinberg (24 May 2019). "The reality for women seeking abortions in Alabama and Georgia". CNN. Retrieved 2019-06-08.
  17. ^ Smith, Kate (May 13, 2019). "A pregnant 11-year-old rape victim in Ohio would no longer be allowed to have an abortion under new state law". CBS News. Retrieved May 14, 2019.
  18. ^ Prabhu, Maya (February 26, 2019). "Georgia Republican files 'heartbeat' bill that would effectively ban abortion". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved February 27, 2019. State Rep. Ed Setzler on Monday introduced House Bill 481, which would outlaw abortions once a doctor can detect a heartbeat in the womb.
  19. ^ Jimison, Robert (February 27, 2019). "Republican Lawmakers In Georgia Aim For Most Restrictive Abortion Law in The Country". Georgia Public Radio - GPB News. NPR. Retrieved February 27, 2019. Before becoming governor, Brian Kemp campaigned on the promise to sign "the toughest abortion laws in the country." . . . I back Mississippi's ban on abortions after fifteen weeks and vow to sign the toughest abortion laws in the country as your next governor. If abortion rights activists want to sue me...bring it! I'll fight for life at the Capitol and in the courtroom.
  20. ^ "2019–2020 Regular Session - HB 481". legis.ga.gov. Georgia General Assembly. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
  21. ^ Fink, Jenni (March 18, 2019). "GEORGIA SENATOR: ANTI-ABORTION BILL 'NATIONAL STUNT' IN RACE TO BE CONSERVATIVE STATE TO GET ROE V. WADE OVERTURNED". Newsweek. Retrieved March 19, 2019.
  22. ^ Prabhu, Maya (March 29, 2019). "Georgia's anti-abortion 'heartbeat bill' heads to governor's desk". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved April 1, 2019.
  23. ^ Mazzei, Patricia; Blinder, Alan (May 7, 2019). "Georgia Governor Signs 'Fetal Heartbeat' Abortion Law". New York Times. Retrieved May 11, 2019.
  24. ^ Lartey, Jamiles (2019-05-22). "Louisiana senate passes anti-abortion bill in latest attack on women's rights". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2019-05-22.
  25. ^ a b Kelly, Caroline (October 1, 2019). "Federal judge blocks Georgia's controversial abortion ban". CNN. Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  26. ^ Prabhu, Maya T.; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta (July 13, 2020). "Federal judge throws out Georgia's anti-abortion law". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  27. ^ "U.S. infant mortality rate rises for first time in 20 years; "definitely concerning," one researcher says". CBS News. Retrieved 2024-01-16.
  28. ^ a b Tribune, Chicago. "Timeline of abortion laws and events". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2019-05-23.
  29. ^ "Timeline of Important Reproductive Freedom Cases Decided by the Supreme Court". American Civil Liberties Union. Retrieved 2019-05-25.
  30. ^ Thanawala, Sudhin (November 25, 2022). "Georgia high court reinstates ban on abortions after 6 weeks". Religion News Service. Retrieved November 27, 2022.
  31. ^ Prabhu, Maya T. (October 24, 2023). "Georgia Supreme Court allows abortion law to stand. What's next?". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. ISSN 1539-7459. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
  32. ^ Cates, Willard; Rochat, Roger (March 1976). "Illegal Abortions in the United States: 1972–1974". Family Planning Perspectives. 8 (2): 86–92. doi:10.2307/2133995. JSTOR 2133995. PMID 1269687.
  33. ^ Arndorfer, Elizabeth; Michael, Jodi; Moskowitz, Laura; Grant, Juli A.; Siebel, Liza (December 1998). A State-By-State Review of Abortion and Reproductive Rights. DIANE Publishing. ISBN 9780788174810.
  34. ^ "Guttmacher Data Center". data.guttmacher.org. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  35. ^ Hall, Kelli Stidham; Redd, Sara; Narasimhan, Subasri; Mosley, Elizabeth A.; Hartwig, Sophie A.; Lemon, Emily; Berry, Erin; Lathrop, Eva; Haddad, Lisa B.; Rochat, Roger; Cwiak, Carrie (2020-05-21). "Abortion Trends in Georgia Following Enactment of the 22-Week Gestational Age Limit, 2007–2017". American Journal of Public Health. 110 (7): e1–e5. doi:10.2105/AJPH.2020.305653. ISSN 0090-0036. PMC 7287556. PMID 32437279.
  36. ^ a b c d "Abortion Incidence and Services in the United States, 1995-1996". Guttmacher Institute. 2005-06-15. Retrieved 2019-06-02.
  37. ^ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2017). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2014". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 66 (24): 1–48. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6624a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 29166366.
  38. ^ Jatlaoui, Tara C. (2019). "Abortion Surveillance — United States, 2016". MMWR. Surveillance Summaries. 68 (11): 1–41. doi:10.15585/mmwr.ss6811a1. ISSN 1546-0738. PMC 6289084. PMID 31774741.
  39. ^ Keenan, Sean (June 24, 2022). "Atlantans hit the streets in protest after Roe v. Wade reversal". Atlanta Magazine. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  40. ^ Montgomery, Madeline (June 26, 2022). "Group of protesters set to stay on Georgia Capitol steps, rallying for abortion rights". CBS 46. Retrieved July 4, 2022.
  41. ^ "Rudolph gets life for Birmingham clinic attack". CNN. Retrieved December 24, 2023.
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