ICYMI
ICYMI: One Month into Georgia’s Legislative Session, Reproductive Freedom for All Mobilizes Against New Abortion Restrictions
GA 158th Legislative Session:
One month into Georgia’s legislative session, anti-abortion lawmakers are once again trying to strip Georgians of their reproductive freedom—and Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia is meeting them at every turn. From the Capitol steps to county commission hearings, our organizers and members are lobbying lawmakers, testifying against dangerous restrictions, and advocating for policies to expand access to care.
On opening day, Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia joined hundreds of advocates for the Georgia ACLU’s “Pack the Capitol” event.
“There is a lot of work to do here,” Serena Dasaro, an organizer at Reproductive Freedom for All, said in a statement responding to what’s at stake for reproductive freedom in Georgia this legislative session.
Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia’s legislative priorities this session include fighting back against a variety of bills aimed at restricting aspects of health care, including HB 54, a bill that strips gender-affirming care from state health care coverage. If passed, this bill would also prevent doctors from prescribing puberty blockers to people under 18, and set a dangerous precedent for further attacks on reproductive care, birth control, and other essential health care.
Beyond defending against attacks, Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia is fighting for other bills and policies that expand Georgians’ access to health care. HB 1138, if passed, would allow pharmacists to dispense self-administered birth control methods and contraceptive shots directly to patients—a commonsense policy already in place in 35 states. The bill would expand access to contraception at a time when anti-abortion extremists are targeting birth control access nationwide.
Other policies, such as expanding Georgia’s existing paid family and medical leave policy, can support working families beyond health care. Six weeks is not enough time to care for your children and loved ones. Families deserve the time they need without the added stress of figuring out how to pay rent and bills.
At Paid Family Leave Poder/LatinX Press Conference, Stallworth Connects Reproductive Freedom to Economic Justice:
At a press conference on February 5th, hosted by Poder/LatinX, Georgia Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth made the case for paid family and medical leave as essential to reproductive freedom. “Paid family leave, affordable health care, and access to reproductive health care are all intertwined—and they’re all economic issues. Working families deserve the freedom to care for the people they love—in moments of joy and in moments of loss—and still have the resources to build a future,” Stallworth said.
“When we fight for reproductive freedom, it does not end at access to care. It includes paid family and medical leave — the freedom to care for yourself and your family without fear of financial ruin,” Stallworth continued.
At Gwinnett County Commission Hearing, Stallworth Calls Out Funding for Anti-Abortion Centers:
At a Gwinnett County Commission hearing, Alicia Stallworth and many others challenged the county’s decision to fund the Georgia Wellness Group, an anti-abortion center with a documented history of providing misleading information to pregnant people seeking care. Despite receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funding, the center does not provide comprehensive reproductive health care.
“If this money was truly aimed at helping Gwinnett residents, it would fund real, life-saving services such as expanding community health centers for prenatal and postpartum care, funding home visit programs for new parents, and using data to target neighborhoods where maternal health and infant health outcomes are the worst,” Stallworth said. “Instead, it’s going to a center that exists to prevent people from accessing the care they need.”
Reproductive Freedom For All Georgia backs elected officials who expand access to health care and address Georgia’s maternal mortality crisis—not politicians who fund misleading anti-abortion centers and push bans that put lives at risk. From the Capitol to county commissions, the message is consistent—and Reproductive Freedom for All Georgia isn’t letting up.
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For over 55 years, Reproductive Freedom for All (formerly NARAL Pro-Choice America) has fought to protect and advance reproductive freedom at the federal and state levels—including access to abortion care, birth control, pregnancy and post-partum care, and paid family leave—for everybody. Reproductive Freedom for All is powered by its more than 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.