Reportage
United States: the battle for the right to abortion began in Georgia
Protest for abortion rights in Liberty Park, Atlanta, May 14, 2022. © Yvonne David
Text by: Marie Normand Follow
12 mins
Twenty states are on the verge of completely banning or severely restricting access to abortion.
They are waiting for the Supreme Court to allow them to do so, and that would be its intention according to an internal document that leaked a few weeks ago.
Among these states: Georgia, where with the approach of the mid-term elections, each camp - pro and anti-abortion - anticipates this decision and tries to mobilize.
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From our special correspondent in Atlanta,
Towels and chairs are laid out near a fountain in Perkerson Park in downtown Atlanta.
A picnic, a few games to play with the family, a yoga class: enough to boost the morale of the troops a little.
“
The last few weeks have been pretty tough.
We needed to find each other
, ”smiles Lauren McEwen, one of the executives of the Feminist Women's Health Center.
"
Since the internal document leaked to the Supreme Court, a lot of people were angry, worried and frustrated
."
This feminist organization was one of the first to open an abortion clinic in Georgia after voluntary termination of pregnancy (abortion) was legalized in 1973 by Roe v.
Wade, whom the
Supreme Court reportedly intends to overturn.
“
We were hoping they would just trim Roe v.
Wade, without completely knocking him down.
We had prepared a little, but this is the worst-case scenario
, ”regrets MK Anderson, communications director of the Feminist Women's Health Center.
She adds that these rumors created a lot of “
confusion
”:
“
We received many calls to find out if the clinic was still open, if it was still legal to have an abortion
”
.
Will the so-called “
heartbeat
” law soon be applied?
Abortion is still legal in Georgia until 22 weeks of pregnancy.
But if the Supreme Court allows states to choose, a law passed in 2018 will apply.
Currently blocked by the courts, it prohibits abortion from six weeks of pregnancy, even before most women know they are pregnant.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who signed it, made it a strong argument for re-election in November.
It is also his opponent's angle of attack.
In her first
campaign clip
, Democrat Stacey Abrams argues that Brian Kemp is "
bringing Georgia back
."
The candidate donated part of her campaign funds to organizations defending the right to abortion.
Impossible for Monique, who walks with her two children, to vote for Stacey Abrams.
It doesn't matter that she is African-American, like her.
This cashier at Walmart will vote Republican to make sure this tougher abortion law applies.
She believes that "
if the baby is there, it must be kept, all the children conceived must see the light of day
".
For Sheri Mann Stewart, on the contrary, the Democratic candidates are right to make the defense of abortion a strong point of their program to mobilize their base.
“
I myself benefited from this right that could soon be taken away from us.
Today I have two children and I think I have been a better mother for them, because in the past I had the possibility of making this choice
", confides the actress, met at the exit of a Mass celebrated by Pastor Raphael Warnock.
She appreciates that this Democratic senator, candidate for re-election and defender of the right to abortion, is
"
able to draw on his faith to support women's rights
".
He is currently trailed in the polls by his Republican opponent Herschel Walker, who presents himself as a staunch supporter of a total ban on abortion.
"At 19, I would not be able to take on a child"
The youngest, who did not experience the situation before 1973, do not all feel concerned.
Alexander, 22, admits not having followed everything but maintains that he understands why this question can worry women.
He points to the lack of sex education at school, which he says boils down to promoting abstinence: "
Rather than telling us how to have safe and healthy sex, they just tell us '
don't do it .
do not do" ".
Beside him, 19-year-old Allie worries about a possible Roe v.
Wade.
“
I, for example, am no longer in school, I work
,”
she explains.
“
I wouldn't be able to take on a child.
The others can have it if they wish, but they must not force those who are not ready for it
”.
Brian*, 21, remarks that it is “
difficult to seek to control morality through politics
”.
He believes that it is “
easier to control legal abortions than clandestine abortions
”.
However, the three friends do not yet know if they will vote in November.
A lack of obstetrician-gynecologists
If the procedure is still legal, abortion is already difficult in Georgia, especially when you move away from Atlanta, where most of the 28 establishments that perform abortions are located.
There are no clinics in rural areas.
The state even lacks obstetrician-gynecologists in most counties.
Even in Savannah, the second largest city in the country, only one establishment offers this type of intervention: family planning.
On the sidewalk opposite, an anti-abortion activist has parked a large pink truck presented as a mobile clinic.
She tries to redirect patients to a care center run by an evangelical organization, whose objective is to dissuade women from having an abortion.
It is located just across the street.
Difficult for patients to navigate.
“
Family planning does its best to inform and guide patients upstream
,” reacts Lauren Frazier, director of communications for Planned Parenthood Southeast.
The organization plans to redeploy clinic advocates outside the building, wearing Planned Parenthood vests that are easily identifiable by patients.
She is worried about a change in legislation, which for everyone here seems inevitable.
“
We will make sure those who want access to comprehensive reproductive health care know which politicians are standing up for their rights.
We will make sure that people go and vote, so that elected officials who oppose these rights lose their seats
,”
she adds.
Pro-abortion slogans, in a demonstration on May 14, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia.
© Yvonne David
A few hundred meters away, Dina Linfoot practices as an obstetrician-gynecologist in a hospital center in Savannah.
She welcomes us to her office, where photos and figurines of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the former progressive justice of the Supreme Court who died in 2020, who worked for the defense of women's rights, are enthroned.
“
I grew up in a place where abortion was accessible and I can't even imagine that it isn't anymore
,” comments the doctor, originally from New York.
“
It's such an important medical right!
Pregnancy is probably the most dangerous medical condition a woman can encounter in her lifetime.
So it's just a burden to force a woman into this if she doesn't want it
”.
The obstetrician-gynecologist recognizes that the subject is very “
difficult
” in Georgia, “
at the same time political, religious and moral
”.
The facility where she works does not offer abortions, except in cases of severe fetal abnormality.
But even in this case, it is necessary to approach the question with great finesse, because many patients, because of their religion or beliefs, “
cannot consider such an option
”.
She feels that most Georgians are unaware of what a return to the situation of the 1960s would mean.”
People forgot.
They don't realize that we are about to encounter medical situations that we have never encountered.
Because when a woman is pregnant, and she doesn't want to be, she is desperate
,” she warns.
A question likely to tip moderate Republicans?
Some moderate Republicans say the conservatives' hard line on abortion is causing them to reconsider their vote.
Thérèse, 55, lives in a pretty house near Savannah.
She has always voted for the Republican Party, but that is changing.
"
This party has become intolerant
,"
she says.
“
I am a devout Catholic: I don't want an abortion, I don't want my children to have it.
But I don't think it's up to elected officials to dictate what a woman should do when she becomes pregnant
.
She adds that she hopes that Georgians will vote in their soul and conscience and not according to their party.
Tilting the moderate Republicans, while mobilizing the Democrats: this is the mission given to three progressive activists from Johns Creek, in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
Originally, remembers Deb Powell, they organized themselves in her living room, to mobilize against the re-election of Donald Trump.
Mission accomplished: a traditional Republican stronghold, Georgia has become a purple state (half Republican red, half Democratic blue).
The state voted overwhelmingly for Joe Biden, elected two progressive senators and three Democratic candidates won local mandates.
But since then, explains Deb Powell, it has been daily fieldwork to keep the flame alive.
Sheila Ford, Yvonne David and Déborah Powell are committed to mobilizing Democratic voters in the northern suburbs of Atlanta.
© Marie Normand
Sheila Ford nods.
The issue of abortion has become a priority for her, alongside the fight against firearms and climate change.
“
The more I think about it, the angrier I get.
This measure is not made to protect babies, it is a measure against women.
We should also talk about men's bodies too, because women don't get pregnant on their own!
she gets carried away.
She recounts having taken her two children apart – two boys – to “
make them understand how important it was to invest in order for the right people to come to power and for women to retain their right to choose
”.
Yvonne David argues that Georgians today are
"
more aware that elections matter
,
and not just every four years to elect the president
."
To defend this right, she continues, it is urgent to place Democrats in all possible elective offices at the local level.
If the Supreme Court makes it possible for States to decide on their abortion legislation, local elected officials will indeed be responsible for legislating alone and applying the law.
“
If Stacey Abrams is elected governor and her vice president or attorney general is a Republican, how will she govern?
asks Sheila Ford.
“
It takes democrats everywhere below it
“adds Deb Powell.
Senator Michelle Au, one of Georgia's few elected doctors - and the only Democrat - is among the candidates supported by these activists.
An anesthesiologist in Atlanta, she is currently a senator for the 48th district and is now seeking, due to a controversial electoral redistribution, a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives.
For her, defending access to abortion is part of a broader struggle for equitable access to health care.
“
These rights should be protected at the federal level, imposed from the top down.
To say that these rights can be restricted at the local level really goes against the work that we think we need to do
,” says Dr Au.
Georgia State Senator Dr. Michelle Au.
© The COL Collection, Inc.
“
The simplest option would be for patients to be able to seek care closer to home, in their state, with a doctor they know and trust.
But this option, it seems, will soon be inaccessible to most Georgian women
.”
The 2018 law, which criminalizes abortion from six weeks of pregnancy, also threatens the practice of health professionals.
“
It takes a toll on doctors' livelihoods, their careers and their ability to care for patients.
So that forces them to choose not to provide care that they would like to offer
, ”
regrets the senator.
And it could go even further.
Some Republican deputies, she says, have in mind to achieve a total ban on abortion.
This is the line supported by the conservative Christian lobby Frontline Police Action.
Its president, Cole Muzio, speaks of a “
cultural battle
” between two Americas and describes the Roe v.
Wade of "
tyranny
".
His organization supports candidates for all positions within the state of Georgia.
These elections, he said, will be “
crucial for the right to life
”.
“
When voters go to the polls, the subject will be at the heart of the ballot as never before.
We must elect candidates defending the right to life to secure our gains.
Then we want to continue working to completely ban abortion.
But it will take time to reduce the six-week ban to…zero!
".
Cole Muzio assures him: “
the battle has only just begun
”.
He also points out that Georgia must prepare for the post Roe v.
Wade: “
there are going to be more births and more women who are not prepared for it.
We have to accompany them
”.
*Name has been changed to preserve the anonymity of the interviewee
►
To read also: Abortion in the United States: Canadians are preparing for an increase in abortion requests
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