The newly elected governor of Georgia, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, announced this Friday that she will work to repeal the state’s current abortion restrictions, and in particular the law that bans it after six weeks of pregnancy. She made the statement to journalists on the steps of the Georgia Capitol in Atlanta, three days after defeating Republican candidate Rick Jackson in the elections, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Bottoms explained that she will consult with the leaders of the House of Representatives and the Senate and will push for changes as soon as possible. «If we see a path to do something about it in this session, we will seize that opportunity,» she stated. She added a warning: «It may not be this session. If it isn’t, we will seize the first opportunity we have.» The legislative session begins in January.
A 2019 law in effect since 2022
The law in question is House Bill 481, passed in 2019 and signed by Republican Governor Brian Kemp, whom Bottoms will succeed. It bans abortion once the child’s cardiac activity is detected, which can occur around six weeks of gestation. It went into effect in 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Roe v. Wade ruling, which had imposed legal abortion nationwide.
During the campaign, the Democrat promised to restore the criteria in place before that ruling and described the law as «a matter of life or death.» Her opponent, Jackson, defended the law as written, with its exceptions for cases of rape, incest, and risk to the mother’s life.
The Republican majority in the Senate, the obstacle
The election result has shifted the balance in the Legislature, though not enough to guarantee repeal. Democrats regained the majority in the House of Representatives after defeating thirteen incumbent Republicans. In the Senate, Republicans retain a narrow majority, although Democrats ousted three of their senators, including Ed Setzler, sponsor of the 2019 law.
To push through significant changes, Democrats would need to convince at least two moderate Republican senators. That arithmetic explains Bottoms’s caution about the timeline, which contrasts with the firmness of her underlying commitment.
The future governor’s promise adds to the pro-choice shift left by the U.S. legislative elections on November 3, in which Virginia voters also approved in a referendum the inclusion of abortion in the state constitution.