The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. What does that mean for Georgians?

The Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a 6-3 decision released Friday, reversing its landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion.

The decision means the power to legislate abortion access largely falls to states. While Georgia does not have a so-called “trigger law” that would immediately outlaw all abortions, the General Assembly passed a law effectively banning abortions after a doctor detects cardiac activity in an embryo, typically six weeks after conception.

The law, HB 481, was blocked by a federal district judge in 2019, who wrote that the Supreme Court has “repeatedly and unequivocally” upheld Roe v. Wade, which prevents states from banning abortion before a fetus is viable.

So what happens to HB 481 now?

Abortion laws in Georgia

Georgia State University law professor Anthony Kreis told the Ledger-Enquirer and the Telegraph that the key issue is whether the courts will allow all aspects of Georgia’s ban to take effect.

“The answer is probably yes. We’re going to see it in a matter of days, maybe weeks at the latest,” he said. “The bottom line is that by the end of the summer, I think the law is going to go into effect.”

The Roe ruling doesn’t necessarily mean that Georgia’s abortion ban is constitutional, and Kreis expects certain provisions of Georgia’s ban to be challenged in state courts.

“You could see how someone could challenge the reporting requirements for a victim of rape or incest in order to obtain an abortion,” he said. “The Georgia Constitution has historically been more protective of the right to privacy than the federal Constitution.

“I’m under no delusion that Georgia courts are very sympathetic to abortion rights access and claims,” he added. “But these arguments are going to be made, and they’re going to be serious arguments.

HB 481 is more restrictive than an 1876 law that allowed for abortion before “quickening” or the ability to feel fetal movement said Lauren Thompson, an assistant professor at Kennesaw State University and a faculty research fellow at Georgia State University’s Center for Law, Health and Society.

That law was updated in 1969 with stricter timing requirements. However, it allowed for therapeutic exceptions for the life and health of the mother, which included mental health as well as rape, and physical, fetal abnormalities, or incompatibility with life, Thompson, who is also a historian of medicine, law, and public health in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, said.

Abortions in Georgia are currently still legal through the first 20 weeks, with certain exceptions after that.

During a visit to Columbus Thursday, Gov. Brian Kemp said it was “impossible” to determine what Roe’s potential overturning would change in Georgia.

“It’s impossible to answer that question right now,” Kemp said a day before the court made the ruling. “I would tell people that we’re prepared for whatever happens in the aftermath in the state of Georgia. We’ve worked with our local partners, Georgia Emergency Management Agency and a lot of other people to be prepared and keep people safe.”

Traveling for abortion procedures

Thirteen states have laws that will make abortions illegal, now that Roe has been overturned: Arkansas, Idaho, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

Because Georgia doesn’t have a complete ban in place, women from neighboring states will likely travel here to have abortion procedures.

MK Anderson, director of development and communications for Atlanta’s Feminist Women’s Health Center, told the Telegraph and L-E after a draft Roe reversal was leaked last month that Georgia already has several barriers to abortion care, including requiring women to wait 24 hours after making an appointment. In most cases, Medicaid doesn’t cover the cost of abortions in Georgia.

“Most counties in Georgia don’t have an OBGYN, much less an abortion provider,” Anderson said. “Folks travel here from across the state to get care.”

Anderson said the center expects women from nearby states with trigger laws to travel to Georgia for abortions even if the state’s six-week ban is codified.

“Those folks are disproportionately people of color who can’t get a provider in their community,” they said.

Other decisions in question

Justice Samuel Alito penned the majority opinion. He was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh and Amy Coney Barrett. Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissented.

In his supporting opinion, Justice Thomas suggested the court review decisions that legalized contraception and same-sex relationships and same-sex marriage.

Thompson, the Kennesaw State University professor and historian, told the Telegraph and L-E last month that Roe’s reversal could be the first in a series of challenges to court decisions protecting these rights.

“If this is the final outcome, this is the first domino in a series of challenges that will take place to other human rights and those will be under attack and vulnerable,” she said.