Community Property: The Harrowing Reality of Dwindling Abortion Access in the United States

Tensions have increased dramatically regarding states’ abortion access following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June of 2022 [1]. The 1973 decision guaranteed pregnant women the freedom to receive an abortion within their first trimester of pregnancy and provided this protection under the 14th Amendment, stating that state action against this would violate the due process clause[1]. Since the overturn, however, states have systematically increased abortion restrictions to limit circumstances or banned the practice altogether. Namely, Georgia’s current 6-week abortion ban has subjected over 5 million women to restricted access to reproductive healthcare [2]. 

Amber Nicole Thurman, a single mother and resident of Georgia, became aware that she was pregnant with twins. Due to the restrictive abortion ban in place, Thurman was forced to seek medical care out-of-state. She took a commonly administered abortion drug and experienced an extremely rare complication in which some fetal tissue remained in her body [3]. After seeking the necessary D&C operation, otherwise known as a dilation and curettage, she was denied care, as performing the procedure had been deemed a felony under Georgia state law, punishable by up to a decade in prison. After waiting 20 hours to receive the operation, it was too late. Thurman’s death marks the first abortion-related death that was officially and publicly deemed to be “preventable” but was in no manner an isolated incident. [3]. Medical professionals have drawn attention to the dangerous precedent set by Roe v. Wade [1]’s overturn and its implications for women nationwide. Dr. Melissa Kottke, an OB-GYN at Emory University, warned lawmakers in 2019 during one of the hearings over Georgia’s ban that women were being placed in drastically life-threatening situations due to the benchmark enforced upon their qualification to receive medical care [3]. 

The Roe v. Wade [1] ruling in 1973 reduced the maternal mortality rates for women of color in the United States by up to 40% within the first year [3]. However, in the past two years following its overturn, abortion has been banned and restricted in over 22 states, and women facing life-threatening situations due to pregnancy complications have been denied care or told to “return when they’re crashing” [3]. 

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp stated that he was “overjoyed” following the law going into effect [3]. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, however, offers a straightforward defense to the right of abortion in the United States. McBurney defines the limit set by the Georgia abortion law to be “awkwardly arbitrary” and draws upon the notion that a five-week-old embryo is no more viable than a nine-week-old. Still, women are free to end such pregnancies if they can detect them in a timely manner to do so [4]. In striking down this 6-week ban, asserting that women are not “community property”, he states that forcibly requiring a pregnant woman to carry an unviable and unwanted fetus is in direct violation of her constitutional rights to liberty and privacy [4]. However, despite McBurney’s ruling, the Georgia Supreme Court reinstated the ban on Oct. 7, 2024 [5]. 

Sources:

1. Roe v. Wade, 410 U.S. 113, (1973)
2. Quickfacts: Georgia, United States Census Bureau (July 1, 2023), https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/GA/PST045223
3. Kavitha Surana, Abortion Bans Have Delayed Emergency Medical Care. In Georgia, Experts Say This Mother’s Death Was Preventable, ProPublica (Sept. 16, 5:00 A.M.) https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-abortion-ban-amber-thurman-death
4. Ruth Marcus, Women are not ‘community property,’ a Georgia judge rules, Washington Post (October 1, 2024 1:32 P.M.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/10/01/abortion-georgia-six-week-judge/
5. Noël James, Women This Week: Georgia Supreme Court Reinstates Highly Restrictive Six-Week Abortion Ban, Council on Foreign Relations (October 11, 2024, 4:17 P.M.)
6. https://www.cfr.org/blog/women-week-georgia-supreme-court-reinstates-highly-restrictive-six-week-abortion-ban#:~:text=This week, the Georgia Supreme,overturned by a lower court.