ATLANTA — The Supreme Court has ruled to overturn Roe v. Wade, the longtime legal precedent guaranteeing the right of legal abortion in the U.S.
In the wake of the 6-3 ruling handed down Friday morning, many Georgia lawmakers and leaders are issuing statements either condemning or in support of the decision.
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp
"Today's landmark ruling is a historic victory for life. I look forward to its impact on the legal proceeding surrounding Georgia's LIFE Act, and hope our law will be fully implemented and ultimately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach State. Working closely with the General Assembly, we have made significant strides to stand for life at all stages - from adoption and foster care reform, to combatting human trafficking and passing the heartbeat bill - and we will continue that important work in the days and months to come."
Sen. Reverend Raphael Warnock
“I’ve always believed a patient’s room is too small a space for a woman, her doctor and the United States government,” said Senator Reverend Warnock. “The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade ends a core protection for women to make their own health care decisions, and is a departure from our American ideals to recognize and protect basic rights. This misguided decision is devastating for women and families in Georgia and nationwide.”
“Across the country, states have already passed dangerous and uncompromising restrictions that put politicians in charge of health care, instead of women and doctors,” continued Senator Reverend Warnock. “Our work to restore the right of women to determine and access their own care must continue. I’ll never back down from this fight because women should be able to make their own health care decisions.”
Congresswoman Carolyn Bourdeaux
“Today is a sad day for all Americans. After decades of attacks, abortion rights in the United States have been toppled and women will die because of this decision.
“In Georgia, this could have immediate consequences. HB481 — a controversial 6-week abortion ban passed by Gov. Kemp and state Republicans — could go into effect within weeks. This means women and doctors can face criminal prosecution over seeking life-saving medical care. Georgia is regularly ranked as one of the worst in the nation for maternal mortality. Women in Georgia are more likely to die as a result of complications with childbirth than in any other state in the nation, and HB481 will only make this worse.
“I am mortified to see the work of generations of women wiped away by Supreme Court Justices who do not share the values of a vast majority of Americans. Women’s health care is not debatable. I will keep fighting to restore what we have lost and protect our bodies, our lives, and our futures from the reactionary majority on the Supreme Court we have today.”
GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker
"This Supreme Court decision sends the issue of abortion back to the states, which is where it belongs," Herschel said. "I stand for life and Raphael Warnock stands for abortion, including the heinous practice of partial birth and late term abortion. I won't apologize for erring on the side of life, especially considering the radical abortion views held by Senator Warnock and today's Democrat party."
Mayor Andre Dickens
“I am sickened by this decision that wrongly and immorally tells women that their bodies are not their own.
“The choice to have an abortion is one of the hardest decisions of many women’s lives. That choice is informed by a wide variety of factors, and government should not have a role in denying that choice.
“As a straight man, I have never been told by the government when, whether or how to start and raise my family. Make no mistake: this ruling will most grotesquely impact women of color and those who do not have the resources to travel to find safe and high-quality health care outside their communities where reproductive services are made illegal.
“I oppose this decision.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams
U.S. House Republican Chief Deputy Whip Drew Ferguson
“The Dobbs ruling appropriately recognizes the Constitution does not confer the right to abortion, and gives individual states the ability to regulate the practice. The Supreme Court is correct in this ruling based on the Constitution and has exercised sound legal rationale.”
Rep. Lucy McBath
“Today, every woman in America has been made less free. Today, extremists on the Supreme Court have stripped away a woman’s right to make choices about her own reproductive health care. Today, our nation’s highest court has rolled back the clock and stripped women of their liberty.
"Today, SCOTUS overturned a half century of precedent, and Dobbs will now join Plessy as one of the most regressive decisions in our nation’s history.
"I share the pain so many are feeling in America today. The freedom and autonomy that has been ripped from women today is sacred—far too personal for our government to dictate. I know the agony that women face when making difficult decisions about their reproductive health. I have faced the pain of labor without hope for a living child. And I mourn the loss that will result from this decision—restricting access to abortion care will endanger the lives of women, disproportionately Black women, in a nation with already alarmingly high rates of maternal mortality.
"For all those who share my grief today, know this: you are strong and powerful beyond measure. Your worth is more than your ability to procreate. We will continue the fight to again reclaim our rights to bodily autonomy. We must take up this movement until America is again a nation of choice—a nation where every woman has that freedom to choose.”
Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene
Rep. Hank Johnson
“This is the most damnable Supreme Court decision in my lifetime. For the first time in our nation’s history, the Supreme Court has snatched away a fundamental civil right. For half a century, the reproductive right has been a hallmark of gender equality in our nation. Women have now had that right ripped away by a callous and extreme, draconian Supreme Court. What civil right is next? Will it be the right to use contraceptives? Will it be marriage equality? Or will it be the civil and voting rights of Black and Brown people? Just how far backwards does this ultra-reactionary Court plan to take us? I am saddened for what has happened for our nation and the disregard that this activist court has for the women of America. However, from this despair must come action and I am also determined to redouble my commitment to codifying the right to an abortion.”
Rep. Buddy Carter
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis
“It is my responsibility as the elected District Attorney to set priorities for the use my office’s resources. I will not be using precious tax dollars allocated to this office to pursue prosecutions based on women’s personal healthcare choices.”