Teddy HarrisWhen Rossville council members gave preliminary approval to an ordinance that would ban abortion in the Georgia city, they moved to pass a measure that experts say is likely unconstitutional.
The ordinance, which on Monday passed its first of two readings, reads, “It shall be unlawful for any person or organization to offer … abortion services within the limits of the City of Rossville,” and adds, “it shall be unlawful for any person or organization to advertise by newspaper, sign board, or otherwise within the limits of the City of Rossville, that the individual or organization does endorse or practice abortion services.”
The ordinance would allow abortions if a doctor performs them in a hospital, the woman’s life is threatened and the fetus is deemed unable to live outside the womb.
There is no hospital or abortion clinic in Rossville.
William Lee, a communication law professor at the University of Georgia, said the proposed ordinance is “unbelievable.”