Georgia Republicans have introduced a bill that will ban the delivery of abortion pills via mail. | Unsplash
Georgia Republicans have introduced a bill that will ban the delivery of abortion pills via mail. | Unsplash
Republican lawmakers in Georgia are pushing a bill that would ban abortion pills by mail and require patients seeking such services to schedule in-person exams.
"It puts great risk on those females who make that choice," said Georgia Sen. Bruce Thompson. "What we're asking is that these females have a physician involved."
Introduced by Thompson, the bill is now co-sponsored by 23 other GOP senators, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. Abortion rights supporters held a conference on Jan. 25 where they advocated a legislative resolution that would maintain abortion access in Georgia.
"We need to continue to reframe this issue," said Atlanta Democrat Rep. Park Cannon. "Access to abortion in Georgia is supported by 70% of voters and the elected officials are playing games with health care during a pandemic."
The policy would put Georgia in the company of over a dozen other red states that have put limitations on obtaining abortion pills, such as by banning mail delivery of the pill, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. If Thompson's bill were to pass, prescribing abortion drugs would be considered a crime as well. It would also widen abortion reporting requirements, and violators would have to pay civil fines of at least $100,000 for each infraction. Violations could also cause physicians to lose their licenses.
Roula AbiSamra, state campaign manager for the abortion-rights group Amplify Georgia, said these reporting requirements are a "death by a thousand cuts" and could also discourage physicians from providing abortion services entirely.
"You're talking about putting outrageous restrictions and paperwork requirements on physicians," AbiSamra said.
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