Access to abortion could be jeopardized in Georgia if the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Pushing the news forward: The country’s Supreme Court heard oral arguments last week on a Mississippi law prohibiting most abortions after 15 weeks of gestation.
- The Mississippi Attorney General has urged judges to overturn the landmark 1973 case that established the constitutional right to abortion.
The big picture: Without Roe, abortion laws and access would vary from state to state and not by national precedent, reports Oriana Gonzalez of Axios.
If the Supreme Court overturns Roe, the average American will have to travel about 200 miles to get to the nearest abortion provider, compared to the current average of 25 miles, according to the Myers Abortion Facility database.
- In Georgia, that number could easily exceed 250 miles.
Game Status: Georgia lawmakers passed law in 2019 banning abortion if a doctor can detect what is known as a fetal heartbeat, which lasts about six weeks and when many people are unaware they are pregnant.
- A federal judge blocked the law from going into effect in 2020, and the state appealed the judge’s ruling.
- The court said it would wait with the Supreme Court decision, the Associated Press reported.
What you say: “Georgia is a state that values life and the governor takes pride in defending and defending the LIFE Act,” Brian Kemp spokeswoman Katie Byrd told AP.
Without contemplating any legal precedent, Georgia Republicans are considering enacting abortion restrictions similar to Texas’s enacting abortion restrictions during the 2022 legislature, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The other side: If Roe is toppled, millions of people in much of the South and Midwest could be left without access to abortion, said Lauren Frazier, communications director for Planned Parenthood Southeast, Axios.
- Frazier said Planned Parenthood needs to focus on directing patients to other states where abortions are still legal while offering their other family planning services.
- “But most importantly, abortion is still safe, legal and available in Georgia and we are doing everything in our power to ensure that it stays that way,” she said.
