Political Rewind: Georgia's six-week ban on abortions pending in courts, candidates respond

Caption

Abortion-rights protesters regroup and protest following Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, federally protected right to abortion, outside the Supreme Court in Washington, Friday, June 24, 2022.

Credit: AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

The panel

Chuck Kuck, @ckuck, immigration lawyer

Leo Smith, @leosmithtweets, Republican consultant & president,  Engaged Futures

State Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver, @mmo_mary, (D) Decatur

Patricia Murphy, @MurphyAJC, Political reporter & columnist, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The breakdown

1. The Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade this past Friday. It's unclear when Georgia's own law will clear the courts.

• Georgia's H.B. 481, nicknamed the "heartbeat bill" passed in 2019 but was held up in a federal district court of appeals. It's expected to pass now, but it's unclear whether state legislators will pass a stricter bill.
• Georgia also has a history of privacy law dating back to the early 20th century, which pro-choice legislators might use to justify abortion protections in the state.
• Some Republicans are calling on Governor Kemp to call a special legislative session to ban abortion in Georgia.

2. Abortion rights promise to play into November's elections.

• Herschel Walker has run on a "no exceptions" platform, which previously was an outlier in his party. Other Republicans might follow his example to secure pro-life voters.
• Stacey Abrams says that Georgia's law might be implemented in "days" but she would reverse the six-week ban as governor.
• District attorneys in several cities have promised to deprioritize prosecutions in abortion cases.

3. The future is unclear: per Alito, there is no constitutional right to seek an abortion.

• Immigration lawyer Chuck Kuck says federal courts have never taken away a right that people already had. That leaves the right up to the states to guarantee.
• According to Leo Smith, returning rights to the local level only has created confusion.

Tuesday on Political Rewind: The Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Tamar Hallerman joins our panel.