ATLANTA – Georgia physicians today applauded Sen. Raphael Warnock for voting in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have protected the federal right to access abortion care. The necessary and long-overdue legislation was voted on as the U.S. Supreme Court is poised to strike down Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case guaranteeing the constitutional right to abortion. Republicans in the Senate defeated the bill, which had been passed in the U.S. House of Representatives already.
“As a physician practicing in Georgia, I applaud Sen. Raphael Warnock for voting in support of the Women’s Health Protection Act, which would have safeguarded people’s right to access abortion,” said Dr. Didi Saint Louis, an Atlanta OBGYN and member of the Committee to Protect Health Care. “Sen. Warnock deserves credit for standing up for women’s health, safety, and well-being, and for standing up to Georgia and Washington politicians who are working around the clock to ban abortions. The fact is that abortion is health care, and taking away access means taking away people’s freedom to make the health care choices that are right for them. Physicians will continue to work to get people the abortion care they need and support leaders who respect patients’ privacy to make decisions around abortion with their doctors, free from political interference.”
Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law in 2019 that prohibits a pregnant person from getting an abortion after cardiac activity is detected in an embryo, considered to be around 6 weeks – when many pregnant people may have just missed their first period and don’t even know they are pregnant. For context and accuracy, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says at six weeks, a woman is carrying an embryo, not a fetus. The Georgia law has been put on hold pending a final, official Supreme Court decision on Roe v. Wade.
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About the Committee to Protect Health Care
The Committee to Protect Health Care is a national mobilization of doctors, health care professionals, and advocates who are building a pro-patient health care majority in Congress and in states so that we can live in an America where everyone has the health care they need to thrive. To learn more: www.committeetoprotect.org
