The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Rescinding Wade quickly resonated across Georgia and beyond, with reactions ranging from outrage and frustration among abortion rights advocates to cheering from anti-abortion activists.
Because the landmark ruling nullified a constitutional right to abortion, access to the process is now left to each state to regulate.
Abortion rights advocates said the ruling is a devastating setback that limits women’s ability to make private medical decisions and determine what is best for them and their families.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp responded Friday that he was optimistic the Supreme Court ruling would prove in court favorable to the state’s 2019 anti-abortion law, and House Speaker David Ralston responded Blue Ridge Republicans, welcomed the ruling, which gives state-elected officials the authority to decide the law. Georgia’s law, which bans abortions after the first sign of fetal heart activity, usually around six weeks after the onset of pregnancy, has been suspended pending a Supreme Court decision.
“I’m proud that the House has also lobbied for significant legislation to foster a culture of life in Georgia — extending postpartum health insurance, providing paid parental leave for state employees, and modernizing Georgia’s adoption law,” said Ralston in a statement.
Georgia’s Democratic nominee for governor, Stacey Abrams, said the heartbeat bill signed by Kemp is dangerous, calling the Supreme Court decision “malicious” because it will impede access to safe abortions and “will make it harder for doctors to to save lives”.
“As Georgia’s next governor, I will fight every day to defend the right to vote and veto laws that further restrict abortion rights,” Abrams said in a statement. “I will work to ensure equity in access and family planning, increase the availability of Plan B and emergency contraception, expand Medicaid to support low-income women, and invest in critical maternal health care to improve maternal and reduce infant mortality rates in Georgia.”
US Rep. Buddy Carter, a Pooler Republican, welcomed the reversal of the 1973 decision.
“Millions of children have been the silent victims of a decade-long siege on their right to life,” Carter said in a statement. “Heartbeats heard at ultrasound appointments have now been heard by the Supreme Court and we finally have a nation that honors the humanity of unborn children.”
Georgia Democratic Party Congresswoman Nikema Williams said the devastating decision draws a line separating politicians in favor of protecting women’s fundamental rights from those who seek to undermine them.
“With the fall of Roe v. Wade, the Georgia GOP now has a clear path to implement their dangerous, unpopular, anti-choice agenda that deprives women of the right to make their own health care decisions,” Williams said.
Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia, says the development is particularly concerning in Georgia, where black women are disproportionately more likely than white women to die from pregnancy-related illnesses and face the consequences of lack of access to medical care.
Monica Simpson, executive director of the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, which is the lead plaintiff in the 2019 lawsuit challenging Georgia’s law, said the repeal of abortion rights is another example of white supremacy in America, expressed in others facets of society.
“This isn’t just about abortion. These attacks are about their desire to remain in power,” Simpson said. “But this moment gave us an opportunity to build our collective power. People are realizing that all of our social justice movements — voting rights, environmental justice, economic justice, racial justice, queer & trans liberation, disability justice — are intrinsically linked to reproductive justice.”
The head of the Georgian section of Christian lobby organization Frontline Policy Action & Frontline Policy Council has pledged to mobilize efforts to end abortion across the country.
“As we celebrate this great Supreme Court decision, we know it is the life movement’s onus to win at the ballot box, engage nationally and in 50 state capitols, and strive to empower women and children in this new post-Roe support world. ‘ said Frontline President Cole Muzio.
“The work is not done yet,” added Muzio. “The struggle is entering a new phase, and we are committed to complete and total victory.”
Women’s rights and other civil rights groups pledged to keep fighting to “defend the rights of 36 million women of childbearing age” as about half the states are poised to ban abortion.
“No abortion restrictions, even those before Roe, stopped people from seeking access to abortion,” said Amy Kennedy, vice president of foreign affairs at Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates. “The Supreme Court ruling has just thrown our nation into chaos and put even more pressure on a healthcare system that was already buckling.
“To be clear: we will not back down. No judge, politician, or ban should ever block your personal medical decisions or direct the health and life of another.”
A Polling the 2020 Gallup Poll with the decade prior to the poll results, with a roughly even distribution of people identifying themselves as “pro-choice” or “pro-life.” However, Gallup reported that since 1975, 80% of Americans say abortions should be legal in at least some or all circumstances.
The political divide between abortion rights is wide, with a 2021 Quinnipiac poll finding that 89% of Democrats say abortion should be legal in most or all cases, compared to 39% of Republicans. Those numbers skyrocketed to over 70% for Republicans when the pregnancy posed a medical threat or was the result of rape and incest.
Georgia’s 2019 law provides exceptions for rape and incest if a police report is filed and life-threatening risks for women.
