DALTON, Ga. – While she continues to weigh campaigns for the U.S. Senate and the White House, Stacey Abrams said Sunday afternoon she is motivated for another run at the governor’s mansion after Republicans passed a controversial abortion bill last week.
“It is dangerous,” she said after a rally at the Dalton Convention Center. “I think it is scientifically insupportable. I know it will cause harm to women, especially to those women who face the highest rate of maternal mortality already. We know that we will lose doctors. We will lose jobs. And I believe it is purely a craven exercise designed to fulfill a political promise.”
The bill, which the House passed Friday afternoon, will ban abortions in Georgia when a doctor detects a heartbeat in the fetus, which usually occurs at six weeks. The legislation includes exceptions in cases of rape, incest or when the pregnancy threatens a woman’s life. Because many women don’t know they are pregnant until at least six weeks, Democrats say the bill essentially bans abortions.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who defeated Abrams in November, is poised to sign it. During his campaign, he promised to pass the “toughest abortion laws in the country.”
After Friday’s vote, he said in a news release, “The legislature’s bold action reaffirms our priorities and who we are as a state.”