Georgia passes dangerous law intended to overturn Roe v. Wade

Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday signed into law a radical bill that bans abortion at as early as six weeks, before most women even know they are pregnant.

The law also opens up both abortion providers and women who receive abortions to criminal charges, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

It only makes exceptions for extremely rare cases. In the case of rape or incest, those who want to use that loophole must first file a police report, another step that could traumatize an already traumatized victim.

The law is the latest GOP-led effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court case that guarantees women the right to an abortion based on the inherent right to privacy.

Republicans like Kemp know that abortion rights groups will challenge this kind of insidious law in the courts, with the hopes that the legal challenges make their way up to the Supreme Court — where Trump has installed anti-abortion justices who could overturn Roe.

In fact, groups such as Planned Parenthood have already vowed legal action against the law.

“Georgia’s governor just signed the six-week abortion ban. We have one message for Governor Kemp: We’ll see you in court,” Planned Parenthood tweeted.

Republicans in more than a dozen other states have either introduced or enacted similar bills, according to the Guttmacher Institute — a research organization that promotes sexual and reproductive health rights across the globe.

“Banning abortion at six weeks has emerged as a leading tactic for antiabortion politicians and activists, with the ultimate goal of challenging Roe v. Wade at the U.S. Supreme Court,” the Guttmacher Institute wrote in a report on the new trend.

Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio have implemented similar laws that are being challenged in the courts. The Kentucky law has already been temporarily blocked by a federal judge.

Other states such are considering even more radical laws, including Texas, which is considering a bill that would subject women who get abortions to the death penalty, and Alabama, which would make it a crime punishable by up to 99 years in prison for doctors to perform abortions at all in the state.

The Republican Party’s war on women is raging on.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.