The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mayor ‘sickened,’ governor hails ‘victory’
Some area DAS say they will not prosecute abortion law violators.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said he was “sickened” by the decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and opposed the ruling by the Supreme Court while several metro Atlanta district attorneys say they will not prosecute anyone under Georgia’s previously passed “heartbeat” bill.
“The choice to have an abortion is one of the hardest decisions of many women’s lives,” Dickens said in a statement shortly after the decision was released Friday. “That choice is informed by a wide variety of factors, and government should not have a role in denying that choice. Make no mistake: This ruling will most grotesquely impact women of color and those who do not have the resources to travel to find safe and high-quality health care outside their communities where reproductive services are made illegal.”
The Atlanta City Council had requested Atlanta police make investigating abortions their “lowest possible priority” if Roe v. Wade were overturned. On Friday, City Council President Doug Shipman said he was saddened and disappointed.
“As a spouse of a physician, father of daughters and a health care advocate, I will continue to work to support women in Atlanta and Georgia,” Shipman said via social media.
The Atlanta Police Department remains focused “on bringing justice to violent criminals, getting illegal guns and drugs off the streets” and protecting residents and visitors, the department said in a statement. The department said it respects the right to peacefully demonstrate and would monitor activity to make sure any gatherings following the abortion decision remained peaceful.
Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis was among the prosecutors issuing reactions after the decision was announced.
“I will not be using precious tax dollars allocated to this office to pursue prosecutions based on women’s personal health care choices,” she said in a statement.
Dekalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston issued a similar statement.
“Across our country, reproductive rights and private health care matters are under attack and vulnerable to criminal inspection and prosecution,” she said. “As the elected district attorney with charging discretion for the Stone Mountain Judicial Circuit (Dekalb County), I am vowing not to prosecute individuals pursuant to HB 481. I believe it is a woman’s right to make decisions regarding her own body and medical care, including, but not limited to, obtaining an abortion.”
House Bill 481, the state’s “heartbeat bill,” outlaws abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, when a doctor can usually detect a fetus’ heartbeat. Gov. Brian Kemp signed it into law in 2019 but it has not gone into effect due to legal challenges. The law has been stalled by the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, which was awaiting the Supreme Court decision.
The law could now potentially go into effect immediately.
Kemp called the high court’s ruling a “historic victory for life” and said he looks forward to the impact the ruling will have on Georgia’s abortion law. “Working closely with the General Assembly, we have made significant strides to stand for life at all stages,” Kemp said in a statement. “We will continue that important work in the days and months to come.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said he was outraged by the Supreme Court decision and vowed, “as a pro-choice pastor,” to fight for women’s rights.
Fair and Just Prosecution, a nationwide group of elected local prosecutors, released a statement saying prosecutors should not be criminalizing and prosecuting individuals who get an abortion, calling it a “mockery of justice.” The group includes from Georgia: Dekalb’s Boston, Gwinnett County District Attorney Patsy Austin-gatson, Chatham County DA Shalena Cook Jones, Augusta Judicial Circuit DA Jared Williams, Macon Judicial Circuit DA David Cooke, Western Judicial Circuit (Athens) DA Deborah Gonzalez and Douglas County DA Dalia Racine.
“As elected prosecutors, ministers of justice and leaders in our communities, we cannot stand by and allow members of our community to live in fear of the ramifications of this deeply troubling decision,” the statement reads. “We stand together in our firm belief that prosecutors have a responsibility to refrain from using limited criminal legal system resources to criminalize personal medical decisions.”
Austin-gatson said she plans to look at each case on a case-bycase basis to determine whether or not to prosecute. Gonzalez said she will not be prosecuting abortion cases.
Due to the technical language of HB 481, district attorneys could potentially seek a murder charge against someone who violates the “heartbeat” law.
But that was not the intent of the law, according to its lead sponsor, Rep. Ed Setzler, R-acworth. Rather, he said, women, doctors, nurses and pharmacists can be prosecuted under Georgia’s criminal abortion statute, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
Boston, the Dekalb DA, said she is opposed to prosecuting abortion under the law, and said she is worried about the safety of those seeking abortions throughout the state and country.
“Criminalizing abortion undermines public safety and public trust,” she said. “Further, it threatens the lives, health and well-being of marginalized individuals whose access to safe abortion procedures will be restricted greater than others. We are creating dangerous ‘have’ and ‘have not’ scenarios that operate contrary to the bedrock of public safety.”