NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia issued the following statement on the leaked U.S. Supreme Court majority decision overturning the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision which protected the right of a woman to an abortion:
Atlanta — Following reports that a majority of Supreme Court justices are planning to strike down Roe v. Wade and allow states to ban abortion in the coming months, NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth released the following statement:
“The right to determine if, when, and how to raise a family is in unprecedented jeopardy in Georgia. The shocking leak of a draft majority opinion in the Jackson Women’s Health case is the most alarming and ominous sign yet of what’s to come for the future of abortion rights and access in the United States. NARAL Pro-Choice America will be activating our 54,000 members across Georgia to support those working to provide abortion care and elect reproductive freedom champions like Stacey Abrams, Renitta Shannon, Bee Nguyen, and Jen Jordan. More than ever, it is critical we elect those who will take bold action to safeguard abortion rights.”
This shocking and unprecedented leak follows multiple other signals that the Supreme Court is poised to overturn the landmark Roe v. Wade case that recognized the constitutional right to abortion. Abortion care is already almost entirely out of reach in states like Texas, where a vigilante-enforced law banning abortion as early as six weeks of pregnancy has rendered Roe meaningless in the state.
Should Roe fall, 28 states—including Georgia—are poised to take action to prohibit abortion outright. Of those, 13 states already have “trigger bans” in place, which would ban abortion automatically if Roe is overturned. Also in Georgia, anti-choice politicians enacted HB 481 in 2019, an extreme ban on abortion before many people even know they are pregnant, that is currently blocked by the courts. These bans and attacks on abortion access fall hardest on those most marginalized, including people of color, LGBTQ people, people with low incomes, and those in rural communities. Pregnant people in Georgia are predicted to see a 1,091% increase in driving distance when seeking abortion care out of state.
Just before this week’s breaking news from the Supreme Court, NARAL Pro-Choice America announced a partnership with Planned Parenthood Action Fund and EMILY’s List to collectively spend a historic $150 million on the 2022 midterms in states like Georgia to elect reproductive freedom candidates. NARAL Pro-Choice America launched its Georgia chapter in 2017 to help build the progressive momentum and infrastructure necessary to make Georgia a key battleground state. NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia spent years following the leadership of and working alongside other in-state groups to lay the foundation to help flip Georgia blue, mobilizing tens of thousands of voters to turn out for reproductive freedom candidates in the 2020 elections.
