An 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruling has set Georgia’s restrictive 2019 abortion law to take effect.
The state’s previous abortion policy allowed for termination 20 to 22 weeks into pregnancy, while the recent ruling bans abortion upon detection of cardiac activity, around six weeks after conception. Exceptions under the “Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act” will be made only during medical emergencies or under circumstances of police-reported rape and incest. The Dobbs ruling, which provided decision-making freedom on abortion back to the states, has exacerbated the gravity of state and city-level lawmakers’ rulings. The matter is set to become a major issue in Georgia’s November election.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp expressed satisfaction with the restriction enactment. “As mothers navigate pregnancy, birth, parenthood or alternative options to parenthood like adoption, Georgia’s public, private and nonprofit sectors stand ready to provide the resources they need to be safe, healthy and informed,” he said on Thursday afternoon, outside of the state Capitol.
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