Total abortion ban in Ga? Advocates talk new bill in state house

Yahoo

28-03-2025

ATLANTA, Ga. (WSAV) – A bill introduced in the state house could effectively ban elective abortions in Georgia.
The legislation, House Bill 441, is called the Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act, and it would remove the 6-week timeframe where it is still legal to have an elective abortion under current Georgia law.
It would also remove exceptions that allow for an abortion in cases of rape or incest.
The only remaining exception in the proposed legislation would be in rare cases where the mother's life is in imminent danger.
Supporters and those against HB 441 lined the halls of the Capitol this week.
'We saw state troopers have to show up in numbers to make sure that things stayed civil,' Allison Coffman, Executive Director of the Amplify GA Collaborative, said.
At a Wednesday hearing, the room was full, but many more waited outside the doors to make their voices heard.
'This would create a crime scene and force doctors and nurses to choose between risking their livelihoods and providing necessary care,' Alicia Stallworth, GA campaigns director for Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia, said. 'Especially when we have rural hospital closures, and we have maternal mortality rates going up a result of these abortion bans.'
Advocates for the legislation argued that they are trying to ensure equal protections for the unborn.
'A child, why should they be murdered for the sin of a person?' State Rep. Emery Dunahoo (R-GA-31, a sponsor of HB 441, questioned during the hearing.
The bill would give protection to human embryos from the moment of fertilization.
Some argue the proposed restrictions could lead people to seek abortion care outside of a medical setting.
'We need legislators to understand that to keep our community safe within Georgia, we have to say no to HB 441 because people are going to take it in their own hands.' Leah Jones, Director of Maternal Health and Birth Equity Initiatives at SisterSong, said. 'These types of bills kill. They're dangerous, and they're violent.'
Others remarked on the fact that, under the proposed legislation, homicide charges could be brought against a pregnant person as well as a medical professional who participates in an abortion or provides follow up care from a miscarriage.
'If there's a loss of pregnancy and they need any kind of additional termination process or procedure, the physician may be too terrified, maybe laws are too restrictive for them to understand how they can move forward in their practice,' Jones said.
HB 441 did not get a committee vote, and the Georgia legislative session ends next week, meaning it's unlikely the bill will pass this session.
However, advocates say, the bill is likely to be reintroduced next session.
'As somebody who has experienced multiple miscarriages on my journey to becoming a mother, it is heartbreaking and quite scary to imagine a Georgia where myself, my friends, other folks I know, would encounter the legal system when trying to navigate a devastating experience of pregnancy loss.'
WSAV reached out to every representative that sponsored this bill but has not yet received a response.
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