(The Center Square) – Three years to the day after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, members of the Georgia Senate Urban Affairs Committee called the state’s “heartbeat law” cruel and restrictive.
The law that bans abortion after six weeks or when a heartbeat is detected became state law after the ruling but was passed in 2019.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris moved Georgia’s law into the spotlight during her presidential campaign. She released an advertisement about the death of 28-year-old Amber Nicole Thurman, who died after she had complications from a medical abortion.
Her mother, Shannette Williams, told the committee on Tuesday that her daughter was “murdered by the hands of people who took an oath to do no harm” after they would not treat her for fear of violating the law. She went on to say her death is what happens when “politics plays a part in health care.”
“For the politicians that said this was OK, for the women that say this is OK, what if you were in my shoes?” Williams said. “What if it were your grandson? What if it were your daughter?”
The committee, which consisted of only Democratic senators, heard from other women who said they were affected by the law and about another Georgia case that garnered national attention.
The family of 30-year-old Adriana Smith of Atlanta said they kept her alive for months after she was declared brain dead so that she could deliver her baby. Her son was delivered prematurely earlier this month, according to reports.
Attorney General Chris Carr told NPR the heartbeat law did not apply to Smith’s situation.
“There is nothing in the LIFE Act that requires medical professionals to keep a woman on life support after brain death. Removing life support is not an action ‘with the purpose to terminate a pregnancy,"” Carr said.
The panel invited Carr to appear, saying they wanted more interpretation of the law.
Carr’s office said in an email to The Center Square that, “The attorney general had longstanding commitments and informed the committee weeks ago that he would not attend. It’s disappointing to see a serious topic overshadowed by partisan theatrics.”
Members said they would be fighting to overturn the law. Committee Chairwoman Donzella James, D-Atlanta, said it would have never passed if lawmakers had “talked to the women of Georgia.”
Sen. David Lucas, R-Macon, encouraged the women to continue speaking out about the law.
“Until you change the dynamic of the folks who are representing you, then you won’t see that change because they are going to vote the same way over and over,” Lucas said. “Voting is the key to all of this.”
