For Immediate Release: Thursday, July 20, 2023

Contact: [email protected]

Atlanta, GA — Today, one year after a federal appeals court allowed Georgia’s ban on abortion to go into effect, Progress Georgia, in conjunction with NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia, released new polling conducted by TargetSmart Research, underscoring that the majority of Georgians reject these bans. The polling found that 72% of all voters, and 86% of Black voters, report that banning abortion at six weeks is very or somewhat concerning.

NARAL Pro-Choice America Southeast Campaigns Director Alicia Stallworth released the following statement:

“Georgia voters have been crystal clear: reproductive freedom is and always will be a priority, and these dangerous abortion bans have no place in our state. This polling confirms what we have long known and serves as a stark warning to anti-abortion lawmakers who continue to infringe on our freedoms. NARAL Pro-Choice Georgia and our 83,000 members remain firmly committed to the fight for the right of every Georgian to access abortion.”

Georgia’s abortion ban, signed into law by anti-abortion extremist Gov. Brian Kemp, has had a devastating impact on the health and well-being of Georgians. It not only bans abortion before many people even know they are pregnant, but it also puts pregnant people seeking abortion care and medical professionals who provide such care in increased jeopardy of criminalization. According to a Center for Reproductive Health Research in the Southeast (RISE) study, the state’s extreme abortion ban “likely bans nearly 90% of abortions in Georgia. This drastic change especially affects Black people, young people, and people with less education—people already facing structural and intersectional inequities in accessing the health care system.”

Health outcomes for Georgians are already in a state of emergency. Georgia has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country, and these rates are increasing—especially among Black women, who are twice as likely as white women to die from pregnancy-related causes. The latest maternal mortality report from the Georgia Department of Health revealed a 20% rise in maternal deaths compared to the previous three-year period. Out of the deaths studied, 113 were pregnancy-related, with 89% deemed preventable, as stated in the report.

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For over 50 years, 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. NARAL is powered by its 4 million members from every state and congressional district in the country, representing the 8 in 10 Americans who support legal abortion.