ATLANTA — Abortion could possibly come to another vote at the Georgia Capitol all because of Tuesday’s court ruling in Atlanta overturning Georgia’s “heartbeat” abortion ban, and throwing the issue back into the legislator’s laps to re-consider a ban– if they wish.
That court ruling will be under appeal, for a final ruling.
However, in the meantime, state lawmakers are already quietly counting the votes for or against a possible new bill that would call for a new, six-week abortion ban law– just in case the Georgia Supreme Court rules against the state’s current abortion law, as the lower court just did.
And it is not clear if there would be enough votes in the legislature, this time around, to pass the heartbeat abortion ban again.
“I think in some ways it is a whole new ballgame,” said Sen. Elena Parent, (D) DeKalb County, on Tuesday.
Parent pointed out that in 2019, Georgia’s heartbeat abortion bill passed the House by only two votes, and that the makeup of the legislature has changed, since then.
“There actually has been an increase in pro-life, pro-choice legislators, in both the House and the Senate, since that time,” she said. "So, it's even more of an uphill battle to put such a draconian law into place now than it was in 2019.”
But the author of Georgia’s heartbeat abortion ban, Republican Representative Ed Setzler of Cobb County, does not even plan to bring a new version of the bill up for a vote.
Rep. Setzler is confident the Georgia Supreme Court will uphold the current law.
“There's no need to redo something we've done well, something we've done thoughtfully with balance the first time,” Setzler said. “I think it's just a matter of time for the state Supreme Court to say that the Dobbs decision does, in fact, give state legislature this authority. And it's the exact authority that our Georgia legislature wisely used in 2019, and it will go into full effect here relatively quickly.”
Sen. Parent said Tuesday that Democrats in the legislature next year will try to codify Roe v. Wade in state law.
But even if that had a chance of passing, she said, “It can be blockaded by the Republican leadership.” She said Democrats will still try.
Setzler’s focus is on keeping his Life Act in place, in the courts– never mind the latest lower-court ruling against it.
“I think this will be a relatively short delay,” he said. “And one that I think Georgians can be confident the Georgia Supreme Court will fix and put the bill, passed back in 2019, in full effect again.”