Two rallies at the Georgia Capitol demonstrate vast divide on abortion stance

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Georgia Governor Brian Kemp speaks at the March for Life held outside the state Capitol on March 6, 2025.

Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News

Two rallies took place a week apart at Liberty Plaza near the state Capitol in Atlanta. 

First was the March for Life, hosted by the Georgia Life Alliance on March 6, 2025.  

A few hundred people gathered in support of tightening Georgia’s current law that prohibits abortion after around six weeks of pregnancy and classifies unborn children as people, under the state’s constitution.  

“We have to fight for the ultimate goal, which is to save every baby,” said former gubernatorial staffer, past congressional candidate and now board member of the Life Alliance, Martha Zoller.  

“We have to make sure that the people that are making the decisions over there are fighting for this issue, too,” Zoller told the crowd, pointing over to the Gold Dome.  

Georgia was among states with trigger laws set to go into effect soon after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization overturned 1973's Roe v. Wade. After arguments last fall, a case against the state now heads back to trial courts from the state Supreme Court over the law's legality.  

During a speech at the start of the event, Gov. Brian Kemp said he supports “life at all stages” but made no promises of tightening Georgia’s abortion law.  

“Remember all that we have accomplished,” Kemp said. “Together, we proved to the nation it’s possible to pass legislation not only protecting the life of the most vulnerable among us, but also recognizing their dignity through personhood.”  

Kemp touted other policy he’s passed for “the health of our families,” such as his approval of Medicaid expansion for up to a year of postpartum, and his proposal to expand the Pathways to Coverage program to parents of children under 6 years old. As part of his annual budget, Kemp included $3.7 million to expand a home visiting program for new mothers.  

But people in the crowd at the March for Life called for some other policy, too — some likely not to come to move fruition, such as  banning in vitro fertilization, under the belief that fertilized eggs deserve the protection as human beings. Other policy supported by organizations like the Georgia Life Alliance is moving forward, including a law that could remove access from transgender people to gender-affirming health care. 

Meanwhile, Kelly Brooks from Tallapoosa said she wants more support for expectant mothers.  

Brooks, like many who oppose abortion, nearly had one herself. She said she was young and scared. Brooks supports the over $1 million in taxpayer dollars sent to non-medical pregnancy resource centers every year. 

“If I had had that that time, it would have made all the difference in the world,” Brooks said. “I probably would have never made it to the clinic.” 

A Christian, Brooks hopes to see the church create more space for women who have sought an abortion.  

“They don't have to go through that alone,” Brooks said. “We need to minister to those women need to be there to give and support them through each stage of life.” 

Around the country there’s been a reported increase in state funding of pregnancy clinics, which offer some supportive services but also often discourage abortions based on religion. Georgia has seen some small additional investments since lawmakers approved the Positive Alternatives to Pregnancy and Parenting Grant Program in 2017. Just over a dozen centers split the nearly $2 million a year.  

Legislation proposed in both chambers this session aimed to enshrine reproductive freedom in the state constitution and repeal the personhood clause in House Bill 481. Another would have redirected funds for pregnancy centers into a home visiting program for mothers and babies. 

No such bills have made it past committee.  

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Signs at a reproductive justice rally on March 13, 2025.

Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News

A recent analysis of years of data from abortion providers and patients suggests about 1 in 4 women will have an abortion in their lifetime. But since Roe v. Wade was overturned, the majority of states report a slight decline in abortions. Georgia, for example, saw roughly 4,500 fewer abortions from 2022 to 2023. 

Speaking at a gathering of reproductive justice groups on March 13, also at Liberty Plaza, state Senate Minority Leader Harold Jones of Augusta pledged “solidarity” to women and said there are forces working on their behalf.  

“Let's make sure that we repeal the abortion ban, but also make sure that we guarantee women's freedom of choice,” Jones said.  

State Rep. Shay Roberts of Atlanta did not mince words about access.  

“Georgia is currently one of the most hostile states in America when it comes to reproductive rights,” Roberts said.  

Georgia also ranks very high for maternal mortality, which disproportionately affects Black and indigenous women. New data from the state shows that between 2020 and 2022, there were 141 people who died within a year of pregnancy, all of which were deemed preventable. Mental health conditions including overdose and suicide were the leading cause of death in 2022, the latest year with data available.  

Meanwhile reports of hospitalizations, and in some cases deaths, from abortion-related complications have outspoken medical providers and pro-choice activists outraged.  

“They treated my daughter as if she was a statistic,” said Shanette Williams, whose daughter, Amber Thurman, died from a mismanaged abortion in a hospital in Georgia.  

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Shanette Wiliams says the death of her daughter Amber Thurman in 2022 from a mismanaged abortion was preventable.

Credit: Sofi Gratas/GPB News

Williams said her daughter was delayed necessary care for a dilation and curettage, also known as a D&C, after she presented with leftover tissue from a medication abortion.  

Thurman's death was one of two investigated among the first reported pregnancy-related deaths from abortion complications in the state since Georgia’s law went into effect. In the time since information about these deaths was leaked, the state Department of Public Health replaced the entire Maternal Mortality Committee, the group that investigates cases of maternal deaths.  

Williams said she’s lost all trust in her elected officials. She’d like to see Georgia’s abortion law repealed, though she doesn’t blame it for her daughter's death. She feels medical providers should have acted sooner.  

“Now that I know my daughter's death was preventable ... I speak about what can happen when we allow people that have no clue about our bodies to make decisions for us,” Williams said.