After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, many states raced to enforce abortion bans, including Georgia.
Within a month of Roe falling, a federal court in Georgia allowed a ban on abortion at about six weeks to take effect, and in November 2022, the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed that decision, meaning this ban is currently being enforced. Many people don't know they're pregnant at six weeks of pregnancy, so the goal of the ban is clear: Make it nearly impossible to get an abortion.
Not only is abortion banned after six weeks, but Georgia also requires patients to wait 24 hours after counseling to get an abortion. This is known as a mandatory delay law, which disproportionately affects patients with low incomes or those in rural areas. These patients often have to travel farthest to see an abortion provider. Biased, mandatory counseling is also required, which includes anti-abortion misinformation. Georgia law essentially requires shaming pregnant people for making their own decisions about their own bodies.
Every day that a ban remains in place in Georgia is another day that the state is putting communities that already face the most significant barriers to health care at greater risk. And we know who is the most impacted by this -- due to systemic racism and discrimination, Black women in Georgia experience almost twice the rate of maternal mortality and pregnancy complications than white women.
Georgia isn't acting alone. States across the country are making abortion as hard as possible to access. We must work together now to protect and preserve abortion access against attacks from the anti-abortion lawmakers working around the clock to strip patients of their right to health care.
There's so much work to be done, but if we come together, we can build a future where abortion is accessible across the country. Head to PlannedParenthoodAction.org to take action.
-- Planned Parenthood Action Fund
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(C)2023 Planned Parenthood Action Fund
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