This week the Georgia Supreme Court ruled in a 6-1 vote to uphold H.B. 481 (2019), the state's six-week abortion ban. This law passed before the Dobbs decision and was a catalyst for more aggressive policies across the South, which now holds little protections for reproductive rights,
From the New York Times:
"The Georgia case, which was brought by the SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, focused on a doctrine of state law known as void ab initio, meaning void from the beginning. That doctrine says, in essence, that a Georgia law that violates the state or federal constitution at the time it is enacted is forever unconstitutional, said Julia Kaye[.]"
Like many other anti-choice policies, there are limited exceptions for rape or incest, including the requirement of a filed police report and action taken prior to 20 weeks gestation. Now, women in the South will be driven further north to places like Virginia and Illinois to seek out care.
The common misconception and misleading language in these bills lies in their common name, "heartbeat bills," also known as effective bans. According to the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology: "It is clinically inaccurate to use the word “heartbeat” to describe the sound that can be heard on ultrasound in very early pregnancy...there are no chambers of the heart developed at the early stage in pregnancy[.]"
Republican-held states will continue to push for more restrictions and more aggressive limits on reproductive healthcare and how people can care for their bodies. Six-week bans are becoming the new norm, so we must fight back. Help us by chipping in today: | 