Pro-abortion advocates, including a group representing women of color, have taken Georgia to a state court to prevent it from enforcing a law criminalizing abortions at about the sixth week of pregnancy with narrowly defined exceptions.
Georgia joins a growing list of states being sued by abortion providers seeking to lift restrictions because state constitutions protect reproductive rights more than the federal constitution. Similar cases are pending in states such as Kentucky, Utah, North Dakota and South Carolina.
Georgia’s law, known as HB 481, violates the Georgian constitution’s rights to privacy, liberty and equal protection, according to a complaint filed in Fulton County Superior Court. SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective is the lead plaintiff, along with Feminist Women’s Health Center, Planned Parenthood Southeast Inc., and others.
HB 481 prohibits abortions after embryonic heart activity has been detected, except in cases of medical emergencies, rape, or incest where there is an official police report. Physicians who break the law face possible prison terms of one to 10 years, loss of their license to practice medicine and civil lawsuits from patients.
A federal court previously barred enforcement of the law, finding it likely violates federal constitutional rights to abortion. But the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit vacated the injunction July 20 after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey, the decisions establishing federal law.
The Eleventh Circuit has taken the unusual step of enacting the law immediately, shutting down abortion in the state without notice to abortion providers. The move “caused chaos and devastation across Georgia as patients undergoing scheduled abortions — some already in clinic waiting rooms — learned they could no longer receive this time-sensitive care in Georgia,” the complaint said.
The Georgia constitution prohibits unjustified governmental interference in life, body and health, the complaint said. This interest in freedom includes the right to decide whether a pregnancy should continue, it is said.
In addition, there is no state interest justifying exposing pregnant women at this early stage “to the profound risks and life-changing consequences of pregnancy and childbirth,” the complaint said. Georgia has one of the highest pregnancy mortality rates in the US, with 28.8 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2018-2020, it says.
Black women are particularly at risk, as they are 2.3 times more likely to die than white women, the complaint said. In addition, Georgia has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the country, it is said.
The law also violates Georgians’ privacy rights by giving prosecutors full access to the medical records of people seeking abortions, the complaint said.
Planned Parenthood is funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the nonprofit organization founded by Michael Bloomberg, owner of Bloomberg Law.
Reasons for action: Georgian Constitution.
Relief: Declaratory judgment, injunctive relief, costs and attorneys’ fees.
Answer: “We are currently reviewing this motion and will uphold our constitutional duty, as we do with all lawsuits against the state,” Kara Richardson, spokeswoman for Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R), told Bloomberg Law.
Lawyers: Bondurant Mixson & Elmore LLP, Caplan Cobb LLC, American Civil Liberties Union Foundation Inc., American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Georgia Inc., Center for Reproductive Rights and Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
The case is SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective v. Georgia, Ga. Super. Ct., No. 2022cv367796, Complaint filed 07/26/22.
