The women of Georgia will soon be forced to make tough decisions, in only six weeks or less.
In a poll of Georgia State freshman, 3% supported House Bill 481, officially known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act. The overwhelming majority, 86%, wasn’t in favor of the bill, while 11% identified as not informed enough to vote.
So, what is HB481? It’s a controversial bill that’s already passed through Georgia’s legislature and now simply awaits Governor Brian Kemp’s signature.
According to the bill, “No abortion is authorized or shall be performed if an unborn child has been determined in accordance with … have[ing] a detectable human heartbeat … As early as six weeks gestation, an unborn child may have a detectable heartbeat.”
Now that the bill is in the Governor’s hands what are all the factors that should be considered regarding the abortion process?
HB481 is a considerable change from Georgia's previous abortion laws, where abortions were legal up to 20 weeks. It earned the nickname of the “Heartbeat Bill’ due to the fact that the bill would outlaw abortions once a heartbeat is detected via ultrasound.
Based on one study on pregnancy symptoms, 50% of women first experienced pregnancy symptoms by the time they were five weeks pregnant. The study describes the symptoms of the first eight weeks of pregnancy.
At two weeks after their last menstruation, a woman is ovulating and most likely about to conceive. At three weeks, a fertilized egg is implanted in the uterus. At four weeks, a woman most likely notices that her period is late. Some women experience symptoms such as nausea and sore breasts at four weeks, while some don’t experience any symptoms at all.
If a large portion of women don’t notice that they’re pregnant until around four or five weeks of pregnancy, that gives them one to two weeks to plan whether or not an abortion is the right choice for them, and if so, when and where the abortion will take place, along with one of the biggest factors: how the procedure will be paid for.
Carafem is a reproductive health clinic located in downtown Atlanta. For the abortion pill, they charge $475, and for a surgical abortion they charge $550. According to the Guttmacher Institute, abortion pills can cost as much as $800, and surgical abortions can cost up to $1,500 in the first trimester.
Health clinics such as Carafem and Planned Parenthood expect payment at the time of service.
According to Planned Parenthood, “Abortion services may be covered by your insurance.”
Not all insurance providers cover abortion procedures, so often women have to pay for the service out of pocket.
Daniel Franklin, one of Georgia State’s American politics and political science professors, offered some backstory on HB481. Franklin explained that this bill was able to pass both the Georgia House of Representatives and Senate despite Democrats picking up seats in the last election because the seats that they regained were held by moderate Republicans, meaning that the Republicans that are left are typically more conservative.
But Franklin doesn’t think the effects of the bill will ever be felt by Georgians.
“The minute the governor signs it, somebody will go to court, and there will be an injunction over it’s enforcement. The whole intent of this bill is that it’s Supreme Court bait,” Franklin said.
“They’re going to send the bill all the way to the Supreme Court, now that there’s a conservative majority. The conservative majority might be willing to overturn Roe v. Wade. Nobody actually expects it to be enforced until the Supreme Court decides on it.”
Roe v. Wade was the 1973 Supreme Court case where the Supreme Court of the U.S. decided that a women’s right to an abortion fell under the right to privacy, as protected by the 14th amendment.
“Roe v. Wade has two parts,” Franklin said. “The first part invalidates the Texas law. The second part considers what kind of abortions can be legal. Once the fetus is viable outside of the womb, then the state can have an interest in that fetus as it were a person. That was around the end of the second trimester.”
However, Franklin notes that today, technology has changed the argument behind the Roe v. Wade decision – including that some say “We can basically raise embryos inside of test tubes, and so there shouldn’t be abortions.”
Lauren McIvor Thompson is a professor on the Alpharetta campus. Her current research focuses on the intersections of medical authority, women’s health and public health policy in the birth control and reproductive health movements.
“HB481 will become the strictest abortion law in the country if signed by Governor Kemp,” McIvor Thompson said. “The bill is similar to others that have passed or are in the process of being passed in places like Mississippi and Ohio, and criminalizes physicians who perform abortions and women who seek abortions.”
McIvor Thompson, unlike Franklin, forsees a possible chain reaction if HB481 becomes Georgia law.
“There will be huge impacts for public health (including maternal and infant mortality rates) and for Georgia’s medical professionals if the bill is ultimately signed by Governor Kemp. Most women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks gestational age nor do many physicians officially schedule ultrasounds with patients to confirm pregnancies until eight weeks gestational age,” McIvor Thompson said.
She warns that it will make it illegal for students and other women to be able to get an abortion no matter the circumstances.
“Students need to be aware that abortion would be made illegal in the state even in some cases of rape or incest … and will make women who suffer miscarriages subject to extra scrutiny to determine that they were not deliberately caused,” McIvor Thompson said.
Additionally, the bill could impact overall medical care in Georgia, according to Mclvor Thompson. Half of the counties in Georgia have no practicing OBGYN currently which she thinks could only be made worse.
Another possible repercussion of this bill is that several members of Hollywood such as actress Alyssa Milano are threatening to boycott Georgia, damaging the $9.5 billion film industry under Georgia’s economy.
HB481 has been on Governor Kemp’s desk since April 2. Kemp has until May 12 to sign or veto the bill.
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