Georgia abortion activists on notice

With the U.S. Supreme Court allowing a restrictive Texas abortion law to go into effect Wednesday, Georgia advocates on both sides of the issue are trying to determine what it could mean when arguments begin over the state’s similar law later this month in a federal appeals court.

Georgia’s anti-abortion advocates are lauding the lack of a decision from the country’s highest court, saying it is setting the stage to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a constitutional, nationwide right to abortion.

Meanwhile, abortion rights advocates in Georgia and six other states embarked on a “bans off our bodies” bus tour featuring a mobile billboard to raise awareness about access to the procedure.

A federal judge last year threw out a similar law in Georgia that bans most abortions after fetal cardiac activity can be detected.

Earlier this year, the Supreme Court said it will consider ruling on a restrictive anti-abortion law out of Mississippi, blocked by lower courts, that would outlaw most abortions once a woman reaches 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Joshua Edmonds, the executive director of the anti-abortion Georgia Life Alliance, said the Supreme Court’s lack of action indicates the “inevitable outcome” of cases in Georgia and Mississippi.

Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates, called the Supreme Court “irresponsible” for not acting before Texas’ law went into effect.