Reproductive health advocates concerned about Georgia's six-week abortion law

A panel of federal judges has cleared the way for Georgia’s 2019 abortion law banning the procedure after around six weeks of pregnancy to take immediate effect. The law was previously blocked on constitutional grounds before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade protections.

Matt Rourke / Associated Press file

Abortion rights advocates say they’ll continue to support patients seeking the procedure in the state after a federal court allowed Georgia’s controversial 2019 abortion law to stand.

The law outlaws most abortions after cardiac activity is detected in the womb — usually as early as six weeks and before most people even know they’re pregnant.

To learn more about the potential ripple effects of the law, WABE’s Jess Mador spoke with Allison Coffman, director of Amplify Georgia, a coalition of reproductive rights groups and healthcare providers around the state.

Coffman expressed concern about the law’s restrictions on abortion, and its establishment of so-called “personhood” rights for embryos and fetuses.