Georgia House Bill 481

Last updated
Georgia House Bill 481
Georgia General Assembly
  • Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act
PassedApril 4, 2019
Signed by Brian Kemp
SignedMay 7, 2019
Legislative history
Bill titleHouse Bill 481
First reading February 26, 2019
Second reading February 27, 2019
Third reading March 7, 2019
Summary
Banning abortion beyond fetal heartbeat
Status: In force

The Georgia House Bill 481, formally named the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, is an American anti-abortion law passed in 2019 that sought to prevent physicians in the U.S. state of Georgia from performing abortions beyond six weeks, except in special situations. The bill was strongly criticized and, notably, many celebrities in Hollywood threatened to boycott the state of Georgia if it were passed. Passed in 2019, it was initially ruled unconstitutional in July 2020. That ruling was reversed, however, in July 2022.

Contents

In September 2024, a Fulton County Superior Court Judge struck down HB 481 arguing it violated Georgia's Constitution. [1] After the state appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, the law was reinstated. [2]

Overview

Provisions

The Georgia HB 481 is a six-week abortion ban; except in certain situations, physicians practicing medicine in the state of Georgia would be prohibited from offering abortion services to pregnant women if a "fetal heartbeat" is present, which typically occurs in the 6th week of pregnancy. Exceptions are provided for women whose pregnancies are considered futile (e.g. anencephaly) or medical emergency and women pregnant by rape or incest but only if they are less than 20 weeks pregnant and only if they have filed a police report. [3]

Supporters

The bill was sponsored by Rep. Ed Setzler, Rep. Jodi Lott, Rep. Darlene Taylor, Rep. Josh Bonner, Rep. Ginny Ehrhart, Rep. Micah Gravley, and Sen. Renee Unterman, all members of the Republican Party. [4]

Proponents of the bill compare the rights of fetuses to those of slaves liberated under the Fourteenth Amendment and LGBT people. [5] [ unreliable source? ]

Similar bills

South Carolina introduced a similar prohibitive bill in 2019, H.3020, which passed the South Carolina House of Representatives in a 71 to 30 vote. The Post and Courier reported that despite passing, it was unlikely the bill would be signed into law. [6] Mississippi (Senate Bill 2116) and Kentucky had passed similar measures in 2019, both of which are being subjected to legal backlash. [7] [8]

Response

Governor Brian Kemp of Georgia voiced his support for the bill, calling it "common sense". [9] Georgia state senator Jen Jordan opposed it, objecting to the wording of the legislation: a woman would have only 1 to 2 weeks to realize she had missed a menstrual period and schedule an abortion, in order to stay within the time frame allotted by the bill. [10] Kemp signed the bill on May 7, 2019. [11]

Hollywood boycott

More than fifty high profile individuals in the U.S. entertainment industry, ranging from actors to screenwriters to directors, issued an official statement threatening to boycott the state of Georgia if the bill is passed. [12] [13] [14] Additionally, Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East issued a joint statement saying their members would also boycott the state. [15] Such a boycott could have had a devastating effect on Georgia's economy, as the state, especially the capital city of Atlanta, serves as the filming location for many high budget films and television shows, including The Walking Dead, Stranger Things , The Real Housewives of Atlanta , Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta, and Cobra Kai . In 2018, it was estimated that film and television productions contributed US$9.5 billion to Georgia's economy. [16] [ unreliable source? ]

Federal court cases

The American Civil Liberties Union, Planned Parenthood and the Center for Reproductive Rights sued the state in June 2019 and sought an injunction against enforcement of the ban before it would go into effect in January 2020. The case was heard in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia under Judge Steve C. Jones. Jones ruled in favor of the injunction to block enforcement in his decision in October 2019, stating "By banning pre-viability abortions, H.B. 481 violates the constitutional right to privacy, which, in turn, inflicts per se irreparable harm on Plaintiffs." [17]

In July 2020, the bill was ruled unconstitutional by Judge Jones. [18] The state appealed to the Eleventh Circuit. With the Supreme Court scheduled to hear arguments on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization in December 2021, a case involving Mississippi's abortion law that banned abortions after 15 weeks and asking questions related to the general provisions set by Roe v. Wade, the Eleventh Circuit put a stay on review of the Georgia case until after the Supreme Court decided Dobbs. [19] Following the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe, the Eleventh Circuit lifted the stay and permitted the law to enter into force. [20]

State court cases

The ACLU, SisterSong, Planned Parenthood and other groups sued the state in July 2022 following the federal case's conclusion. The parties sought an injunction against enforcement of the ban under the Constitution of Georgia. The case was filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County and will be heard by Judge Robert McBurney. [21] On September 30, 2024, the Judge struck down the law. [1] The state appealed the decision shortly after and was successful in reinstating the law at the Supreme Court of Georgia. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

Leonard Edwin Setzler is an American politician from the state of Georgia. A member of the Republican Party, he has been a member of the Georgia Senate since 2023. From 2005 until 2023, he represented the 35th district in the Georgia House of Representatives.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abortion law in the United States by state</span>

The legality of abortion in the United States and the various restrictions imposed on the procedure vary significantly, depending on the laws of each state or other jurisdiction, although there is no uniform federal law. Some states prohibit abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with few exceptions; others permit it up to a certain point in a woman's pregnancy, while some allow abortion throughout a woman's pregnancy. In states where abortion is legal, several classes of restrictions on the procedure may exist, such as parental consent or notification laws, requirements that patients be shown an ultrasound before obtaining an abortion, mandatory waiting periods, and counseling requirements.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve C. Jones</span> American judge (born 1957)

Steve CarMichael Jones is a United States district judge for the United States District Court for the Northern District of Georgia and a former Georgia Superior Court judge.

Abortion is the termination of human pregnancy, often performed in the first 28 weeks of pregnancy. In 1973, the United States Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade recognized a constitutional right to obtain an abortion without excessive government restriction, and in 1992 the Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey invalidated restrictions that create an undue burden on people seeking abortions. Since then, there has continued to be an abortion debate in the United States, and some states have passed laws in the form of regulation of abortions but which have the purpose or effect of restricting its provision. The proponents of such laws argue they do not create an undue burden. Some state laws that impact the availability of abortions have been upheld by courts. In 2022, Roe and Casey were overturned by the Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, meaning that states may now regulate abortion in ways that were not previously permitted.

A six-week abortion ban, also called a "fetal heartbeat bill" by proponents, is a law in the United States which makes abortion illegal as early as six weeks gestational age, which is when proponents claim that a "fetal heartbeat" can be detected. Medical and reproductive health experts, including the American Medical Association and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, say that the reference to a fetal heartbeat is medically inaccurate and misleading, for a conceptus is not called a fetus until eight weeks after fertilization, as well as that at four weeks after fertilization, the embryo has no heart, only a group of cells which will become a heart. Medical professionals advise that a true fetal heartbeat cannot be detected until around 17 to 20 weeks of gestation when the chambers of the heart have become sufficiently developed.

Abortion in Oklahoma is illegal unless the abortion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant individual.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jen Jordan</span> American lawyer and politician (born 1974)

Jennifer Lyn Auer Jordan is an American lawyer and politician who represented District 6 in the Georgia State Senate from 2017 to 2023. She is a member of the Democratic Party.

Abortion in Alabama is illegal. Historically, Alabama's abortion laws have evolved from strict regulations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to a period of liberalization following the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. However, Alabama has consistently enacted legislation aimed at restricting access to abortion.

Abortion in Georgia is illegal after detection of embryonic cardiac-cell activity, which typically begins in the fifth or sixth week after the onset of the last menstrual period (LMP), two to three weeks after implantation. Although this law was ruled unconstitutional by a Georgia superior court judge on September 30, 2024, it remains in effect while the state appeals the ruling.

As of 2024, the legal status of abortion in Missouri is unclear. From 2022 to 2024, abortions were only legal in cases of medical emergency, with several additional laws designed to make accessing abortion services difficult. In 2014, a poll by the Pew Research Center found that 45% of Missouri adults said that abortion should be legal vs. 50% that believe it should be illegal in all or most cases and 5% that do not know. The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 55% of Missourians said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. According to a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study, 51% of white women in the state believed that abortion is legal in all or most cases.

Abortion in Arkansas is illegal except when it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant individual. Doctors determined to have performed an abortion face up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $100,000.

Abortion in Kansas is legal. Kansas law allows for an abortion up to 20 weeks post-fertilization. After that point, only in cases of life or severely compromised physical health may an abortion be performed, with this limit set on the belief that a fetus can feel pain after that point in the pregnancy. In July 2024, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down two abortion restrictions.

Abortion is illegal in Kentucky. There were laws in Kentucky about abortion by 1900, including ones with therapeutic exceptions. In 1998, the state passed legislation that required clinics to have an abortion clinic license if they wanted to operate. By the early 2010s, members of the Kentucky Legislature attempted to ban abortion in almost all cases and had also introduced the early abortion bans. Prior to 2019, Kentucky law prohibited abortions after week 22. This changed when the state legislature passed a law that moved the prohibition to week 6 in the early part of the year. A bill passed and made effective in April 2022 lowered the threshold to 15 weeks, the second most restrictive limit in effect in the United States behind Texas, and introduced regulations that made abortion illegal until it was blocked in federal court.

Abortion in Mississippi is illegal. The new law took effect on July 7, 2022, after Mississippi State Attorney General Lynn Fitch certified on June 27, the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24 of that year. State Attorney General Lynn Fitch's certification made Mississippi's 2007 'trigger law' go into effect and ban all abortions in the state, “except in the case where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape".

Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.

Abortion in South Carolina is illegal after detection of a "fetal heartbeat", usually around 6 weeks from the woman's last menstrual period, when many women are not yet aware that they are pregnant. On May 25, 2023, Governor Henry McMaster signed a 6-week ban, and it took effect immediately. The ban was indefinitely blocked in court on May 26, and reinstated by the South Carolina Supreme Court on August 23.

Abortion in Tennessee is illegal from fertilization and provides no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the pregnant individual. Tennessee's abortion legislation provides no explicit exceptions for the pregnant patient’s health. It makes an exception for an “affirmative defense” for emergencies, but the vagueness of what constitutes an emergency means that physicians hesitate to provide abortions even when the pregnant individual's life is in jeopardy. Attempts to codify the exceptions into law have been rejected by Republican politicians in Tennesse. Tennessee is among the four states which forbid abortion access through their state constitution; alongside Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia.

Abortion in Iowa is illegal after detection of embryonic cardiac-cell activity. Embryonic cardiac-cell activity can be detected from around six weeks after the pregnant individual's last menstrual period, when many people are not yet aware that they are pregnant. Exceptions for the abortion ban after detected embryonic cardiac-cell activity include some instances of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities and threats to the pregnant individual's life.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Texas Heartbeat Act</span> 2021 Act of the Texas Legislature on abortion

The Texas Heartbeat Act, Senate Bill 8, is an act of the Texas Legislature that bans abortion after the detection of embryonic or fetal cardiac activity, which normally occurs after about six weeks of pregnancy. The law took effect on September 1, 2021, after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request for emergency relief from Texas abortion providers. It was the first time a state has successfully imposed a six-week abortion ban since Roe v. Wade, and the first abortion restriction to rely solely on enforcement by private individuals through civil lawsuits, rather than having state officials enforce the law with criminal or civil penalties. The act authorizes members of the public to sue anyone who performs or facilitates an illegal abortion for a minimum of $10,000 in statutory damages per abortion, plus court costs and attorneys' fees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">157th Georgia General Assembly</span> Term of state legislature in US state of Georgia

The 157th Georgia General Assembly consisted of two sessions of the Georgia General Assembly in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, the first in 2023 and the second in 2024. It convened its first session on January 9, 2023 at the Georgia State Capitol in Atlanta, which adjourned sine die on March 29; as stipulated in the Constitution of Georgia, the General Assembly can only hold a session "for a period of no longer than 40 days in the aggregate each year".

References

  1. 1 2 Weixel, Nathaniel (Sep 30, 2024). "Georgia judge strikes down state's six-week abortion ban". The Hill. Retrieved Oct 2, 2024.
  2. 1 2 "Georgia Supreme Court reinstates state's 6-week abortion ban". NBC News. 2024-10-07. Retrieved 2024-10-07.
  3. ↑ "HB 481 2019-2020 Regular Session". www.legis.ga.gov. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  4. ↑ "Georgia HB481 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session". LegiScan. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  5. ↑ Gander, Kashmira (January 1, 2020). "Anti-abortion supporters of Georgia's "heartbeat bill" say fetuses face same civil rights issues as LGBT and black Americans". Newsweek. Retrieved January 3, 2020.
  6. ↑ Lovegrove, Jamie (April 24, 2019). "SC House approves 'fetal heartbeat' bill to ban most abortions". Post and Courier. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  7. ↑ Jessica Ravitz (21 March 2019). "Mississippi governor signs 'heartbeat bill' into law. Next up: A legal fight". CNN. Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  8. ↑ Mervosh, Sarah (2019-03-16). "Judge Blocks Kentucky Fetal Heartbeat Law That Bans Abortion After 6 Weeks". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2019-04-25.
  9. ↑ "Georgia's 'fetal heartbeat' abortion bill: All eyes on Gov. Brian Kemp who has until May 12 to sign or veto". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  10. ↑ EDT, Jenni Fink On 3/29/19 at 3:21 PM (2019-03-29). "Georgia's strict anti-abortion bill could have a negative $9.5 billion economic impact, passes house". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Georgia's governor signs a controversial abortion bill into law". CNN. 2019-05-07. Retrieved 2019-05-24.
  12. ↑ Lisa Respers France (29 March 2019). "Hollywood comes out in opposition to Georgia's 'heartbeat' bill". CNN. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  13. ↑ "Google News". Google News. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  14. ↑ Milano, Alyssa (2019-03-28). "To @BrianKempGA & Speaker Ralston: Attached, is an open letter signed by 50 actors against #HB481. On behalf of the undersigned--as people often called to work in GA or those of us contractually bound to work in GA--we hope you'll reconsider signing this bill. #HBIsBadForBusinesspic.twitter.com/DsOmAWYU2x". @Alyssa_Milano. Retrieved 2019-04-24.
  15. ↑ "WGA East & West Oppose Georgia's Abortion Ban Legislation HB 481". Writers Guild Of America East. 2019-03-26. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  16. ↑ EDT, Jenni Fink On 3/29/19 at 3:21 PM (2019-03-29). "Georgia's strict anti-abortion bill could have a negative $9.5 billion economic impact, passes house". Newsweek. Retrieved 2019-04-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ↑ Kelly, Caroline (October 1, 2019). "Federal judge blocks Georgia's controversial abortion ban". CNN . Retrieved October 1, 2019.
  18. ↑ Prabhu, Maya T.; Journal-Constitution, The Atlanta (July 13, 2020). "Federal judge throws out Georgia's anti-abortion law". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved November 2, 2020.
  19. ↑ Goldsmith, Jill (September 27, 2021). "Georgia Appeals Court Stays Review Of Hollywood Hub's Abortion Law Ahead Of Supreme Court Case". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved September 27, 2021.
  20. ↑ Prabhu, Maya T. (July 20, 2022). "Federal court says Georgia's anti-abortion law can now be enforced". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution . Retrieved July 27, 2022.
  21. ↑ Prabhu, Maya T. (July 26, 2022). "Abortion providers take challenge of ban on procedure to state courts". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Retrieved July 27, 2022.
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