Stacey Abrams: It’s 'Dangerous’ For Georgia Women After Roe V. Wade Overturned
Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams said this is a “dangerous” time for women in her state after the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24 reversed the constitutional right to an abortion, suggesting that birth control rights are also threatened.
“We know that in Georgia, a law has already been proposed that would expand the restrictions in the state. We know that [Georgia Gov.] Brian Kemp has already signaled his, at least an ambiguity, about how he feels about birth control and the laws that govern birth control access,” Abrams told Jake Tapper Sunday (June 26) on CNN's State of the Union. “And so it is very, very dangerous for women in Georgia right now.”
The conservative majority on the high court ruled in a 6-3 decision to eliminate the nationwide guarantee to abortion rights nearly five decades after the landmark Roe v. Wade case, setting off shockwaves among women’s rights advocates. The ruling means that states can make decisions on whether they will allow the terminations of pregnancies.
Abrams underscored that Georgia Republicans pushed through legislation in 2019 that bans abortions when a fetal heartbeat can be detected, which can be as early as six weeks into a pregnancy when many women don't yet know they're pregnant.
While Roe v. Wade was still the law of the land, a federal district judge struck down the law as unconstitutional. But after the high court’s reversal on Friday, the state wasted no time asking the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the law to go into effect.
"In Georgia in particular, in a matter of days, this six-week ban will be the law of the land. That is horrendous. That is appalling. And it is wrong. And, as the next governor, I'm going to do everything in my power to reverse it," stated Abrams, who is running against Kemp, the GOP candidate, in November.
Georgia is far from alone. The Washington Post reported that 13 state legislatures were poised to prohibit abortions within 30 days under “trigger bans” designed to take effect after the Supreme Court’s decision. Additionally, several states, including Georgia, were expected to seek reversals of their blocked antiabortion laws, and at least eight states wasted no time and banned the procedure on the same day that the high court’s justices announced their ruling.
Abrams called for a “legislative solution” to restore a constitutional right to abortion that would end a patchwork of state laws on the procedure. Right now, in 20 states and the District of Columbia, abortion has been legal and is likely to be protected, according to The Post.
"I believe there should be a federal law that allows women to have these choices, to have reproductive choice and reproductive justice, and I think that it has to stop being a political football where the ideology of the leader of a state can determine the quality of life for a woman and her ability to make the choices she needs," Abrams said.
