What’s Going on In Georgia Regarding Abortions

What’s Going on In Georgia Regarding Abortions By:

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After the overturning of Roe V Wade in 2022, the national right to abortion was dismissed. Allowing states to enforce their own bans. Thirteen states have implemented total bans on abortion, and Georgia is one of the four states that implemented this ban after week six of pregnancy when fetal cardiac activity can be detected. 

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September 30 Ruling

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On September 30th, 2024 Georgia Judge Robert McBurney overturned the state’s six-week abortion ban, deeming it unconstitutional.“Liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.” The new ruling allowed abortions to be legal up until 22 weeks of pregnancy. Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his order “the State's interest in protecting 'unborn' life is compelling until that life can be sustained by the State ... the balance of rights favors the woman.” Highlighting how until the ‘unborn’ life is born, it is imperative to put the mothers life and needs first. 

Abortion bans are especially damaging in southern states, as the majority of the states with these bans reside there. Meaning the closest state you could turn to for an abortion could be multiple states away. So having Georgia reverse this ban, would not only open access to their own residents, but also those to all nearby states that have implemented the same or more extreme bans. 

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October 7 Ruling 

A week after the lower court appealed the six-week abortion ban, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the previous abortion ban, effective immediately. It went into effect at 5pm, local time, October 7th, 2024. All abortions after six weeks were once again illegal. The original six-week ban will remain while Georgia's highest court considers the appeal brought by the state. 

In the Supreme Court’s decision, they did leave the lower courts’ ruling blocking a separate specification of the law that gave prosecutors broad access to medical records for patients who had abortions without protections of due process. For example, notifying the patient or a subpoena. 

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Why This Overturning Matters  

The lives of two Black Women, Amber Nichole Thurman and Candi Miller, were both ended earlier due to restricted access to abortions. Both of their deaths have been deemed preventable by Georgia’s expert Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Both patients were not able to access the medical care they urgently needed and deserved, due to doctors’ fear of the criminal penalties for breaking the state’s abortion ban. 

Thurman, suffered from a serious infection that could’ve been easily treated in the well-equipped Atlanta Hospital. After taking abortion pills, her body experienced a rare complication, and didn’t expel all of the fetal matter and resulted in the need for a routine procedure that would clear said matter from her uterus. This procedure is called a dilation and curettage, or a D&C. The hospital waited 20 hours before performing the procedure, and by then it was much too late. 

Thurman’s case is the first official abortion-related death that has been determined to have been preventable. Her death is largely related to the delay in care she received. If the fear and confusion of possible criminal charges due to the state’s abortion ban weren’t looming over doctors’ heads, Thurman would most likely be here today, caring for her son. 

The Republican Law-Makers who voted this ban into place, say the laws have expectations to protect the life of the mother. However, due to the confusing language used, it pits medical professionals fears of legal prosecution against the medical care needed for patients. That they have to wait until a mothers condition becomes dire. A fever gets worse, an infection spreads, more bleeding is caused, this way there cannot be any misconstrued beliefs that an abortion was performed in a setting that wasn’t saving the mother’s life. However, this will just result in an increased maternal death rate. 

Amber Nichole Thurman and Candi Miller are not the first women to have preventable abortion-related deaths, and they will not be the last. Especially with the reinstatement of Georgia's six week ban. 

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Work Cited 

BRUMBACK, KATE, and JEFF AMY. “Judge Strikes down Georgia Ban on Abortions.” AP News, 30 Sept. 2024, apnews.com/article/georgia-abortion-law-struck-down-632db7d5de815efa18aea52dadbfc59b.

Center, Feminist Women’s Health. “FAQ for 6 Week Abortion Ban in Georgia - Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta near Decatur, Avondale Estates, GA. We Provides Abortion Clinic Services, Abortion Pill, Gynecologist and Birth Control Services to All of Georgia.” FAQ for 6 Week Abortion Ban in Georgia - Feminist Women’s Health Center in Atlanta near Decatur, Avondale Estates, GA. We Provides Abortion Clinic Services, Abortion Pill, Gynecologist and Birth Control Services to All of Georgia., feministcenter.org/faq-georgias-6-week-abortion-ban/.

Edelman, Adam. “Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates State’s 6-Week Abortion Ban.” NBC News, 7 Oct. 2024, www.nbcnews.com/politics/georgia-supreme-court-reinstates-states-6-week-abortion-ban-rcna174336.

“Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates Six-Week Abortion Ban | American Civil Liberties Union.” American Civil Liberties Union, 7 Oct. 2024, www.aclu.org/press-releases/georgia-supreme-court-reinstates-six-week-abortion-ban.

Sareen Habeshian. “Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates Abortion Ban amid Legal Battle.” Axios, 7 Oct. 2024, www.axios.com/2024/10/07/georgia-abortion-ban-reinstated. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

Surana, Kavitha. “Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable.” ProPublica, 16 Sept. 2024, www.propublica.org/article/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death.

Watson, Kathryn. “Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates 6-Week Abortion Ban While Appeal Is Underway.” Cbsnews.com, CBS News, 7 Oct. 2024, www.cbsnews.com/news/georgia-supreme-court-abortion-ban/. Accessed 11 Oct. 2024.

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