Prefiled legislation forecasts a focus on women’s issues

Published 12:30 pm Monday, December 16, 2019

ATLANTA — Lawmakers are gearing up for another legislative session with a focus on women’s rights.

Prefiled House legislation highlights Georgia’s debate on abortion services and what has been called a maternal mortality crisis.

Rep. Dar’shun Kendrick, D-Lithonia, prefiled legislation that would allow women receiving abortion services to opt out of receiving information on their unborn child.

In 2005, the Georgia legislature passed the Women’s Right to Know Act which required women receiving abortions to be fully informed of medical risks and methods of abortion, possible psychological effects, risks of continuing with the pregnancy and information on the fetus such as the estimated age at the time an abortion is performed.

Kendrick’s bill would waive the requirement for the women to know information about the fetus.

“Any female upon whom an abortion is to be performed may decide not to receive or review the informational materials regarding an unborn child, certify that she received or reviewed such informational materials, view the fetal image, or hear the fetal heartbeat,” the bill reads. 


Kendrick said that the legislation is a direct response to a controversial heartbeat bill passed by the legislature last session that makes abortion illegal once a doctor can detect a fetus’ heartbeat. 

A federal judge has issued an injunction, halting the state’s restrictive abortion bill, meaning the law will not go into effect on Jan. 1 until litigation is closed.

“I expect every Republican to sign onto it,” Kendrick told CNHI, “because if they want every woman to get an abortion, we should remove barriers for them.”

If Republicans don’t support it, she said, they are “talking out of two sides of their mouth.”

The doctor serving the woman receiving the abortion must get the decision in writing and it is kept in the woman’s file for three years. If the woman chooses not to review the information, the doctor would be safe from criminal or civil lawsuits.

The original Women’s Right to Know Act outlines a requirement to provide the woman seeking an abortion with photos and drawings of a fetus at two-week increments throughout a full pregnancy term and information on the fetus’ chances of survival.

“Any such pictures or drawings shall contain the dimensions of the fetus and shall be realistic,” the 2005 legislation states. “ The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about the fetus at the various gestational ages.”

Georgia also requires the woman consult with a doctor at least 24-hours prior to having the abortion.

Recently released data showed as national rates of abortion fell, rates in Georgia rose 8% from 2014 to 2017. The number of facilities providing abortions in Georgia fell by two during the three-year period to 26 facilities — 15 of which were clinics.

Rep. Mable Thomas, D-Atlanta, has been leading the conversation on the state’s maternal mortality rates. Thomas prefiled legislation called the Georgia Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act that aims to reduce the possibility of implicit racial bias when women receive perinatal care.

Under the act, staff that provide pregnancy-related care at hospitals, clinics and birthing centers are required to undergo implicit bias training programs — with a “refresher course” mandated every two years.

Black and Hispanic mothers face triple the rates of maternal mortality than white women do.

Lawmakers on a House Study Committee on maternal mortality met outside of this year’s session to tackle the issue in Georgia, the state with some of the highest rates throughout the nation.

Following the first committee meeting, Thomas held a press conference where she and women’s rights advocates expressed disappointment on the committee’s focus on data collection and whether or not the rates accurately reflect the problem.

The act also mandates the Department of Public Health to track data on “severe maternal morbidity” and publish findings every three years. Currently, the Maternal Mortality Review Committee, under the department, identifies pregnancy-related deaths and tracks the data.