After Roe Fell: U.S. Abortion Laws by State

Hostile

Georgia

Georgia is enforcing a 6-week abortion ban.

State Legal Details

Bans in Effect

  • Gestational Ban, 22-week LMP
  • Gestational Ban, 6-week LMP
  • Method Ban

Bans Enjoined

  • Pre-Roe Ban

Restrictions in Effect

  • Biased Counseling Requirement
  • Fetal Personhood
  • Parental Involvement, Parental Consent Requirement
  • TRAP Requirements: Facilities, Regulation of Location
  • TRAP requirements: Providers, Reporting Requirement
  • Waiting Period Requirement

State Protections

Georgia does not have any constitutional or statutory protections for abortion.

Restrictions

Georgia is enforcing a 6-week abortion ban, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.1 The 6-week abortion ban is currently being litigated, and the Georgia Supreme Court allowed the ban to remain in effect during the pendency of litigation.2 Georgia allows abortion care between 6- and 20-weeks LMP if the pregnancy was the result of rape or incest.3 Georgia also defines “natural person” as any human being, which includes an “unborn child”. 4

Georgia prohibits D&X abortion procedures.5 Pregnant people who seek abortion care must undergo a mandatory twenty-four-hour waiting period and biased counseling.6 Georgia also limits public funding for,7 and private insurance coverage of, abortion.8 Georgia law generally requires that a parent, legal guardian, or judge consent to a minor’s abortion.9

Georgia’s targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws include requirements related to facilities10 and reporting.11 State law restricts the provision of abortion care to licensed physicians.12 Providers who violate Georgia’s abortion restrictions may face civil and criminal penalties.13

Historical Restrictions

In 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated certain provisions of Georgia’s pre-Roe ban.14

Conclusion

Now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe, Georgia is enforcing a 6-week abortion ban.

  1. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-141 (providing exceptions for abortion care necessitated by a physician’s judgment of medical emergency or if the pregnancy is medically futile); see also Ga. Dep’t of Cmty. Health, Notice to Health Care Providers Regarding Misinformation about Abortions in Georgia (Sept. 25, 2024), available at https://dch.georgia.gov/providers/provider-news (clarifying that miscarriage is not an abortion and reminding providers that abortion is permissible at any stage of pregnancy to save the life and health of the pregnant person in the event of a medical emergency). ↩︎
  2. SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Just. Collective v. State, No. 2022-CV-367796 (Sup. Ct. Fulton Cnty. Sept. 30, 2024) (finding of the trial court that the six-week abortion ban violates the Georgia constitution’s fundamental right to privacy). The six-week ban was reinstated by State v. SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Just. Collective, No. S25M0216 (Ga. Oct. 7, 2024); vacating and remanding State v. SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Just. Collective, No. S25A0300 (Ga. Feb. 20, 2025). ↩︎
  3. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-141(b)(2). ↩︎
  4. Ga. Code Ann. § 1-2-1, permanently enjoined by SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Just. Collective v. Kemp, 472 F. Supp. 3d 1297 (N.D. Ga. 2020); rev’d and permanent injunction vacated, SisterSong Women of Color Reprod. Just. Collective v. Kemp, 40 F.4th 1320 (11th Cir. 2022). ↩︎
  5. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-144(b). ↩︎
  6. Ga. Code Ann. § 31-9A-3. ↩︎
  7. Ga. Code Ann. § 45-18-4; Ga. Dep’t of Cmty. Health, Policies and Procedures for Hospital Servs., § 911 (2016), available at https://gshp.wildapricot.org/resources/Documents/procedures_hospital.pdf. ↩︎
  8. Ga. Code Ann. § 33-24-59.17. ↩︎
  9. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 15-11-682, 15-11-684. ↩︎
  10. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-141(b).  ↩︎
  11. Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-12-141.1, 31-10-18, 31-10-19. ↩︎
  12. Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-141(e)(2). ↩︎
  13. See, e.g., Ga. Code Ann. §§ 16-12-140, 16-12-141.1(f), 16-12-143. ↩︎
  14. Doe v. Bolton, 410 U.S. 179, 199-200 (1973); but see 1973 Ga. Laws 635-38 and Ga. Code Ann. § 16-12-140, formerly Ga. Code Ann. § 26-1201 (state law criminalizing providing abortion unaffected by Doe v. Bolton). ↩︎