Abortion rights activists scored a short-term victory on Friday when the US Supreme Court decided to continue allowing access to the abortion drug mifepristone as a legal battle over its approval continues, but Georgians on both sides of the issue expect the uncertain situation to continue to evolve .
“This decision expands an order that would stay dangerous lower court orders that would severely limit access to mifepristone and jeopardize the FDA’s science-based drug approval process,” Georgia Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler said in a statement following the decision . “But make no mistake – the approval of mifepristone is still very much at risk, and amidst the crisis in access to abortion, this drug needs to be protected.”
Claire Bartlett, executive director of the anti-abortion alliance Georgia Life, called the drug dangerous and untested and predicted an eventual victory.
“Our first concern is women’s health and safety,” she said. “Restricting mifepristone will be a win for women and their babies who are being hunted down by the abortion industry.”
Mifepristone is one of two drugs used to induce medical abortion, replacing surgical abortion as the most common method in 2020. The pills were approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in 2000 and have been widely used ever since.
The Supreme Court decision will allow Georgia women to get the pills up to six weeks into their pregnancy, but as cases make their way to court and the potential for a tougher ban in neighboring Florida, the future of timely access remains to be seen Abortion uncertain for Georgia patients .
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation earlier this month introducing a six-week abortion ban, but the law cannot go into effect pending a Supreme Court decision on a previously passed abortion law.
In 2019, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law the state’s restrictive abortion law, which, like that in Florida, bans abortions in most cases after fetal cardiac activity can be detected, typically around the sixth week of pregnancy.
Abortion rights advocates say many women don’t even know they’re pregnant by the sixth week. Doctors measure pregnancy from the first day of the mother’s last menstrual period, so by the time of conception a woman can be about two weeks pregnant.
Georgian law remains in force as it is challenged in court. Abortion rights advocates say the law needs to be revised because it was unconstitutional when it was passed. Proponents of the ban say it’s fair because the Supreme Court’s Dobbs ruled last year that Roe v. Wade was wrong all along.
For women living in southern Georgia, clinics in Tallahassee or Jacksonville represent the closest available locations for an abortion, and this range extends north for women who desire an abortion at six weeks.
The closest clinic to a woman in Decatur County in the southwest corner of the state is now about 40 miles away in the Tallahassee area, but if Florida law went into effect, the closest clinic to women would be after Sixth week of pregnancy, just over 450 miles away, according to Caitlin Myers, an economics professor at Middlebury College in Vermont.
“It’s become hellish to get a medical option for all women, especially rural Georgia women,” said Melita Easters, executive director of the Georgia WIN List, a political action committee aimed at electing female Democrats who support abortion rights. “And you have to remember that half the counties in Georgia don’t have OB/GYN. And that means women who might be pregnant have to go further just to get normal medical care, let alone the ultrasound to determine how far along a pregnancy might be.”
The data suggests that Georgia’s ban preceded a decline in the number of abortions in the state.
A Society of Family Planning study released this month found that the average number of abortions performed each month in Georgia fell about 40% after the Dobbs decision. Between April and May, the average number of abortions performed was 4,235, which fell to 2,558 between July and December, for an average monthly decrease of 1,822 and an overall decrease of 10,930.
The politicians
Georgia Congressman Andrew Clyde was among 69 Republican congressmen who signed an amicus letter arguing against the approval of mifepristone. Members said the pills were improperly tested by the FDA in 2000 and were unsafe.
“The FDA’s unlawful approval and deregulation of chemical abortion drugs undermines Congressional policy considerations and patient safety safeguards,” the group wrote, calling on the judiciary to “protect women and girls from the harms of chemical abortion drugs.”
Both Georgia’s senators and all five of its US Democratic representatives signed another brief arguing that the FDA’s approval process is thorough and overseen by the Legislature.
The brief, signed by 253 members of Congress, says the attempt to overturn the agency’s decision “has no legal basis, threatens the drug approval process mandated by Congress, and poses a serious health risk to pregnant individuals by making access to abortion more difficult.” when access to Dobbs against the Jackson Women’s Health Organization is already seriously eroded.”
A January poll by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution suggests that introducing tougher abortion bans in Georgia could be a tough political sell. The poll found that 49% of Georgians say it should be easier to get an abortion. Another 24% said it should stay about the same, and just 21% said it should be more difficult.
Easters predicts new attempts to restrict access to abortion will alienate more women from Republicans in future elections.
“We don’t know what the Georgia Supreme Court will do based on the hearings they held in March on the legality of Georgia’s current six-week ban, but I believe in the impact of all this uncertainty on abortion and where.” Georgia is standing, is it legal or not, meaning this ruling or that ruling means making women much more aware of how dramatically different their medical autonomy and medical options are under this bill,” she said.
“A lot of women are going to be really effective at supporting candidates, knocking on doors and writing checks over the next 12 months,” she added.
This story was provided by WABE content partner Georgia Recorder.
