Summary of Georgia’s Laws Related to Abortion
Legal Definition of Abortion: 'Abortion' means the use or prescription of any
instrument, medicine, drug, or any other substance or device with the intent to
terminate the pregnancy of a female known to be pregnant. The term 'abortion'
shall not include the use or prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug, or any
other substance or device employed solely to increase the probability of a live
birth, to preserve the life or health of the child after live birth, or to remove a dead
unborn child who died as a result of a spontaneous abortion. The term 'abortion'
also shall not include the prescription or use of contraceptives.
GA Code 15-11-111.
General Rules and Regulations of the Law: Only a physician licensed by the
State of Georgia to practice medicine and surgery may perform an abortion. GA
Code 16-12-141.
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After the first trimester: No abortion can be performed after the first
trimester unless the abortion is performed in a licensed hospital or in a
health facility licensed as an abortion facility by the Department of Human
Resources. GA. Code 16-12-141.
After the second trimester: No abortion can be performed after the
second trimester unless the physician and two consulting physicians
certify that the abortion is necessary in their best clinical judgment to
preserve the life or health of the mother. GA Code 16-12-141.
Born-alive protection: If the baby is born alive (capable of meaningful or
sustained life), medical aid must be rendered. GA Code 16-12-141.
Reporting of abortions: The performing physician must file a Certificate of
Abortion to the Commissioner of the Department of Human Resources
within ten days after an abortion procedure is performed. The statistical
data of the woman required on the certificate includes her age, race,
education, county of residence, marital status, duration of pregnancy,
previous pregnancy history including previous abortions, method of
abortion, fetal defects if fetus survives, and history of use of drugs and/or
alcohol. The privacy of the woman must be preserved. Records must be
available to the district attorney of the judicial circuit where the hospital or
health facility is located.
Parental Notification for a Minor Seeking An Abortion:
GA Code 15-11-111 through 118.
Definition of unemancipated minor: Any person under the age of 18 who is not or
has not been married or who is under the care, custody, and control of her
parent, guardian, or the juvenile court.
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No physician or other person can perform an abortion on an unemancipated
minor unless they meet one of the three requirements:
(1) The minor furnishes a statement signed by a parent or guardian stating
that they are the lawful parent or guardian and that they have been
notified that an abortion is to be performed on the minor.
(2) Or the physician or an agent gives at least 24 hours notice in person or by
telephone to the parent or guardian. The physician must provide the
name and address of the place where the abortion is to be performed.
(3) Or the physician or an agent gives written notice of the pending abortion
and the address of the place where the abortion is to be performed, sent
by regular mail, addressed to a parent or guardian of the minor. The
notice is deemed delivered 48 hours after mailing.
If the parent or guardian cannot be located, the girl can petition the
juvenile court for a waiver of the requirement for parental notification. The
court can also grant a waiver if the girl is "mature enough and well informed to
make the abortion decision in consultation with her physician." The court will offer
the girl a court appointed counsel.
Parental Consent: Georgia does not require a parent to consent before their
minor daughter undergoes an abortion.
Partial-Birth Abortion Ban: President Bush signed the Ban on Partial Birth
Abortion on November 3, 2003, but three federal courts promptly issued
temporary restraining orders preventing enforcement of the Act. Therefore,
babies continue to be aborted by the heinous partial-birth abortion procedure.
The three federal courts include:
1. Nebraska - Carhart v. Ashcroft, 287 F. Supp. 2d 1015 (D. Neb.
2003);
2. New York - National Federation of America v. Ashcroft, 287 F.
Supp. 525
(S.D.N.Y. 2003);
3. California - Planned Parenthood Federation of America v. Ashcroft,
No.
C 03-4872 PJH (ND.Cal Nov. 7, 2003).
The parties challenging the federal law argue the ban is unconstitutional because
the language is overbroad and lacks an exception to protect women’s health.
Georgia’s law banning partial birth abortion includes the health exception that is
a catchall that permits a partial birth abortion for any type of physical, emotional
or mental stress on the mother. The law is also limited by a court’s consent order
to limit enforcement to “intact and dilation and extraction” procedures performed
to abort a viable fetus except when necessary to preserve the woman’s life or
health. Midtown Hospital v. Miller, No. 1:97-CV-1786-JOF (N.D. Ga. Sept. 3,
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1998) The U.S. Supreme Court held that a ban on partial-birth abortion that lacks
an exception to protect a woman’s health and that bans more than one
procedure is unconstitutional. Stenberg v. Carhart, 530 U.S. 914 (2000).
Conscience Exceptions: Certain medical personnel and health facilities may
refuse to participate in abortion on the basis of conscience or religious conviction.
GA Code 16-12-142
Public Funding: Georgia does not pay for abortions for Medicaid clients except
in cases of rape or incest, or when the mother’s life is endangered.
Licensing of Abortion Providers: In order to perform first-trimester abortions,
a provider must be licensed as a hospital or an “abortion facility,” which is an
ambulatory surgical center. GA. Comp. Rules and Regulations 290-5-32-01 (g).
Georgia restricts providers in abortion facilities to performing only Dilation &
Extraction (D & E) abortions. Abortions after 13 weeks other than D & E must be
performed in a hospital. Abortion facilities must be available at all reasonable
and/or scheduled operating hours for observation and examination by state
officials. Ga. Comp. Rules and Regulations R. 290-5-33-08 (1).
Informed Consent for Abortion: No abortion shall be performed in Georgia
except with the voluntary and informed consent of the female upon whom the
abortion is to be performed. Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
except in the case of a medical emergency, consent to an abortion is voluntary
and informed if and only if:
(1) The female is told the following, by telephone or in person, by the
physician who is to perform the abortion, by a qualified agent of the
physician who is to perform the abortion, by a qualified agent of a referring
physician, or by a referring physician, at least 24 hours before the
abortion:
(A) The particular medical risks to the individual patient associated with the
particular abortion procedure to be employed, when medically accurate;
(B) The probable gestational age of the unborn child at the time the abortion
would be performed; and
(C) The medical risks associated with carrying the unborn child to term.
This information may be provided by telephone without conducting a physical
examination or tests of the patient, in which case the information required to
be provided may be based on facts supplied to the physician by the female
and whatever other relevant information is reasonably available to the
physician. This information may not be provided by a tape recording but must
be provided during a consultation in which the physician or a qualified agent
of the physician is able to ask questions of the female and the female is able
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to ask questions of the physician or the physician’s qualified agent. If in the
medical judgment of the physician any physical examination, tests, or other
information subsequently provided to the physician requires a revision of the
information previously supplied to the patient, that revised information shall be
communicated to the patient prior to the performance of the abortion.
(2) The female is informed, by telephone or in person, by the physician who is
to perform the abortion, by a referring physician, or by a qualified agent of
either physician at least 24 hours before the abortion:
(A) That medical assistance benefits may be available for prenatal care,
childbirth, and neonatal care;
(B) That the father will be liable pursuant to subsection (a) of Code Section
19-7-49 to assist in the support of her child; and
(C) That she has the right to review the printed materials to be published by
the Department of Human Resources by August 10, 2005, and that these
materials will be available on a state sponsored website by August 10,
2005. The physician or the physician’s qualified agent shall orally inform the
female that materials have been provided by the State of Georgia and that
they describe the unborn child, list agencies that offer alternatives to
abortion, and contain information on fetal pain. If the female chooses to view
the materials other than on the website, they must either be given to her at
least 24 hours before the abortion or mailed to her at least 72 hours before
the abortion by certified mail, restricted delivery to addressee. This
information required may be provided by a tape recording if provision is
made to record or otherwise register specifically whether the female does or
does not choose to review the printed materials other than on the website;
(3) The female certifies in writing, prior to the abortion, that the required
information has been furnished her and that she has been informed of her
opportunity to review the information.
(4) Prior to the performance of the abortion, the physician who is to perform
the abortion or the physician’s qualified agent receives a copy of the written
certification and retains it on file with the female’s medical record for at least
three years following the date of receipt.
By August 10, 2005, the Department of Human Resources is required to
publish in English and in each language which is the primary language of 2
percent or more of the state’s population and ensure that the information is
available on the state website the following information:
(1) Geographically indexed materials designed to inform the female of public
and private agencies and services available to assist a female through
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pregnancy, upon childbirth, and while the child is dependent, including
adoption agencies, including a comprehensive list of the agencies
available, a description of the services they offer, and a description of the
manner, including telephone numbers and website addresses, in which
they might be contacted or, at the option of such department, printed
materials including a toll-free, 24 hour telephone number which may be
called to obtain, orally or by a tape recorded message tailored to the ZIP
Code entered by the caller, such a list and description of agencies in the
locality of the caller and of the services they offer;
(2) Materials designed to inform the female of the probable anatomical and
physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational
increments from the time when a female can be known to be pregnant to
full term, including any relevant information on the possibility of the unborn
child’s survival and pictures representing the development of unborn
children at two-week gestational increments, provided that any such
pictures must contain the dimensions of the fetus and must be factually
accurate for the stage of pregnancy depicted. The materials will be
objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only factually accurate
scientific information about the unborn child at the various gestational
ages. The material will also contain objective information describing the
methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks
commonly associated with each such procedure, the possible detrimental
psychological effects of abortion, and the medical risks commonly
associated with carrying a child to term; and
(3) Materials with the following statement concerning unborn children of 20
week’s or more gestational age:
'By 20 weeks gestation, the unborn child has the physical structures
necessary to experience pain. There is evidence that by 20 weeks
gestation unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner, which
in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain.
Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks
gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery.'
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