June 28, 2019

Reproductive Rights Groups Sue Georgia Over Anti-Abortion Law

The groups are seeking to block the six-week abortion ban from going into effect.

Demonstrators dressed as characters from "The Handmaid's Tale" protest outside Georgia's Capitol, where Gov. Brian Kemp was to sign anti-abortion legislation on May 7.Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Lawyers from the ACLU, the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood filed a lawsuit Friday against the state of Georgia to block an anti-abortion law passed earlier this year.

The law bans abortion after the six-week mark, which is often before someone would be aware of a pregnancy, and is scheduled to go into effect on January 1.

Georgia is one of nine states—along with Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Utah, and Arkansas—that have passed strict limits on abortions within the past year.

“None of these laws are in effect, and we are fighting to keep it that way,” said Center for Reproductive Rights CEO Nancy Northup in a statement. “For nearly half a century, the Supreme Court has protected the right to abortion, and we know the majority of Americans continue to support abortion access.”

The lawsuit alleges that Georgia’s ban on abortion after six weeks is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision.

“This legislation is blatantly unconstitutional under nearly 50 years of US Supreme Court precedent,” said Sean J. Young, legal director of the ACLU of Georgia in a statement. “Politicians have no business telling women or a couple when to start or expand a family.

Opponents of the six-week ban also point to the high maternal and infant mortality rates in Georgia to argue that the state should be focused on improving maternal health care rather than limiting abortion access. In 2010, Amnesty International flagged Georgia as the state with the highest maternal mortality rate. 

“In a state with a critical shortage of medical providers and some of the highest rates of maternal and infant deaths, especially among Black Georgians, politicians should focus on expanding access to reproductive care, not banning abortion before someone even knows they’re pregnant,” said Talcott Camp, deputy director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project.

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate