ATLANTA — Georgia could soon see an abortion law that mirrors the one causing controversy in Texas.
State Democrats are preparing to fight it.
Channel 2′s Richard Elliot reports that top state Republican leaders say they could copy the bill.
“I would be remiss if I did not tell you there’s a strong possibility that you’ll see additional legislation introduced,” said State Senator Butch Miller.
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Miller said he fully expects to see Republicans simply copy Texas’ abortion law and file an exact duplicate here in Georgia.
Miller is running for lieutenant governor, so is State Senator Burt Jones, who said the exact same thing.
“There’s probably going to be several states that do something very similar to that. And I wouldn’t doubt it at all,” Jones said.
Georgia Democrats, led by Congresswoman Nikema Williams, talked virtually Wednesday about how they are anticipating another big fight over a new Texas-style abortion bill in the Georgia legislature this January.
“We can’t let Republicans pull the same stunt in Georgia y’all, but they’re trying,” Williams said.
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The Texas bill, just given the green light by the Supreme Court, allows private citizens, not the state, to enforce the six-week abortion ban by allowing them to sue anyone who assists in providing access to abortion.
As Georgia’s heartbeat abortion bill remains mired in the federal court system, Representative Beth Moore believes the GOP will try to emulate that law and get it through the general assembly.
But given how close the House vote was on the Georgia law, she isn’t sure a Texas-version would pass.
“If you look at the vote tally in the house on HB 481, it passed by two votes. Two votes. That is hardly a mandate in Georgia that the state wants this. It’s not,” Moore said.
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Before any of that happens, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals will hear the state’s appeal on the Georgia heartbeat abortion law. That will happen on Sept. 24.
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