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A breakdown of Florida, Georgia's abortion laws

Currently both states have abortion bans in place after a certain amount of weeks of pregnancy.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla — In a draft ruling obtained by Politico, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito wrote an opinion on overturning Roe v Wade. The draft reads “We now overrule those decisions and return that authority to the people and their elected representatives.”

If this ruling becomes official, it would put abortion rights in the state's hands to decide. 

"The Constitution does not prohibit the citizens of each State from regulating or prohibiting abortion," the draft says. 

In Florida and Georgia, there are abortion laws in place. 

In Florida, Governor Ron Desantis signed into law in April 2022 a ban on most abortions after 15 weeks.

While there are exceptions if the abortion is necessary to save a mother's life, prevent serious injury to the mother or if the fetus has a fatal abnormality, there are not exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

We have yet to see a response on social media from Governor Ron Desantis on the leaked draft as of Tuesday morning. Florida Republican Senators Rick Scott and Marco Rubio have responded.

Nikki Fried, current Florida Agriculture Commissioner and candidate for Governor. tweeted in opposition of the potential decision.

In Georgia, abortions are banned after 20 weeks of pregnancy or 22 weeks after the woman’s last period. The patient also must receive state-directed counseling and then wait 24 hours before the procedure is provided.

However, Georgia lawmakers were in the process of getting one of the strictest abortion bans passed in 2019 which has been on hold in an appeal process.

The law would ban most abortions once cardiac activity can be found in the fetus which is often around 6 weeks. That is the same time women often find out they’re pregnant due to the time it takes to have a missed period and notice symptoms.

A federal appeals court says it will wait to rule on Georgia’s new law until the Supreme Court makes their final decision. That is expected to be released in late June or July. 

We have yet to see any comments on social media from Governor Brian Kemp, but Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock has tweeted in opposition.

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