A History of Reproductive Health in Georgia

Norma McCorvey (Jane_Roe) and her lawyer Gloria Allred outside of the Supreme Court in 1989. Courtesy Lorie Shaull via Wikimedia Commons

By Tiffany Harte
Digital Storytelling Content Manager

It is easy for Americans to forget that abortion was common before Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that decriminalized the procedure across the country.

Dr. T.F. Davenport, the first head of the pediatric ward at Grady Memorial Hospital, recalled in a 1979 interview that although abortion was illegal, it was widespread.

“Well, abortion was illegal until about two years ago. It was a criminal offense. There was plenty of it done. It was illegal. They did abortions, but they took a chance to be sent to jail if they were caught in it,” he said.

“Every few years there was [sic] someone who was well-known who would do abortions, and he charged a reasonable price, and some of them did good jobs, and some of them didn’t. It’s been done all the time. They couldn’t do it in the hospital because it was illegal. They had to do it in their offices or their homes or in some other place where it couldn’t be found what they were doing.”

People who couldn’t pay for illegal abortions often took matters into their own hands, and nurses such as Durice Hanson had to provide aftercare for failed at-home abortions. Hanson, a nurse and the supervisor of the Children’s Ward at Grady Memorial Hospital recalled caring for some of these women who came to Grady.

“These mothers that would come in there at Grady. Many of them had tried to get rid of the pregnancy, and they’d come in with infections. I think that was cleaning up from an attempted abortion. The family would get frightened, and they’d call for the Grady ambulance.”

When women came in to get life-saving treatment after an at-home abortion, Hanson said they wouldn’t tell her why they were there or what had happened.

“They’d tell you very little of anything. It was such a shock to me when I went down on a maternity ward, and there were so many of those eclamptic patients and constant irrigation. We didn’t have those high-powered drugs to clear up an infection, and we had to use irrigations.”

Pro-life activists in midtown Atlanta protest to overturn access to legal abortion. Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center

Though graphic, Davenport and Hanson’s accounts are what some are afraid to return to in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s historic recent decision to officially overturn Roe v. Wade in its ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

In the majority opinion, Justice Samuel Alito wrote that abortion is not a constitutional right because the U.S. Constitution does not refer to abortion. He also noted that the due process clause does not protect the right to abortion, and abortion is not a right rooted in the nation’s history.

Currently, in Georgia, medical and surgical abortions are legal up to the time a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity — typically six weeks into a pregnancy. Prior to July 20, abortion was available with no limitations if the procedure was performed before 20 weeks of gestation.

Women dressed as characters from Margaret Atwood’s “Handmaid’s Tale” protest outside the Georgia State Capitol at a pro-choice rally in May 2022 after Gov. Brian Kemp signs HB 481 into law. Courtesy John Ramspott via Flickr

Georgia’s Reproductive Health Timeline

• 1876: Georgia’s first law regulating abortion is enacted. It criminalizes abortion but protects a woman’s right to abortion in cases where her life is in danger.
• 1913: Laws are passed regarding obtaining a medical license, and note that the Georgia State Board may refuse to grant or remove a doctor’s license for “procuring or aiding or abetting in procuring a criminal abortion.” (The statute also appeared in 1957.)
• 1955: Restrictions are placed to punish midwives for “producing” abortions.
• 1960s-70s: CDC epidemiologists collect data on family planning.
• 1962: Emory establishes a birth control clinic at Grady Memorial Hospital.
• 1964: The first Planned Parenthood in the southeast was established in Atlanta.
• 1968: A restrictive abortion law is implemented. It is later challenged by Doe v. Bolton. While this law is challenged for its narrowness, it expands abortion access for Georgians.
• 1969: Sandra Bensing, who became the plaintiff in Doe v. Bolton, is denied an abortion at Grady.
• 1973: The U.S. Supreme Court decides in Roe v. Wade that abortion is a constitutional right under the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment. The court also strikes down Georgia’s 1968 abortion law in Doe v. Bolton, expanding access to abortion across the country.
• 1973: Georgia’s 1968 Abortion law is amended in response to Roe/Doe rulings.
• 1976: The Hyde Amendment is enacted. It bars the use of federal funds, such as Medicaid, for abortions except in cases of incest, rape, or to save the mother’s life.
• 1985: Legislation passes regarding the disposal of fetuses. Any clinic or hospital “where abortions are performed or occur spontaneously” must dispose of fetuses via approved disposal services such as cremation or interment. All facilities where fetuses are delivered must report on their fetal disposal methods annually or when their fetal disposal methods change.
• 1987: Parental Notification Act passes. This law requires parental notification of abortion for unemancipated minors.
• 1988: Amended Parental Notification Act passes. A federal judge struck it down after a lawsuit by Planned Parenthood.
• 1992: The Supreme Court upholds Roe. v. Wade and the right to abortion in Planned Parenthood v. Casey.
• 1994: The Georgia General Assembly prohibits giving funding to Planned Parenthood, where abortion is considered a method of family planning.
• 1996: Eric Rudolph bombs Centennial Olympic Park, killing one and injuring 111. Later, Rudolph said the bombing was an opportunity to knock out Atlanta’s power grid, shut down the Olympics, and shame the United States for its legalization of abortion.
• 1997: A law passes that prohibits the partial-birth method for abortions. This banned the procedure of partially delivering a live fetus, ending its life while partially outside of the vaginal canal, and finishing delivery. The law allowed for the process if no other medical procedure could save the woman’s life.
• 2005: A Woman’s Right to Know Act passes in the Georgia Assembly. It mandates that a woman be informed of the risks of abortion, the gestational age of her fetus, and the dangers of carrying a child to term. The act also requires a woman to view printed material about alternatives to abortion and the benefits available during pregnancy.
• 2007: A Woman’s Right to Know Act expanded to include a provision to inform women about viewing fetal ultrasounds and listening to fetal heartbeats before an abortion. A woman needed to note in writing whether she elected to view the sonogram or listen to the heartbeat.
• 2012: A 20-week abortion ban is put in place limiting the right to abort fetuses with a gestational age older than 20 weeks. Exceptions to the 20-week abortion ban can be made in medical emergencies. This legislation is rooted in the belief that fetuses can feel pain at 20 weeks.
• 2014: Law enacted that prohibits insurance coverage of abortions for public insurance plans.
• 2019: Gov. Brian Kemp signs six-week abortion ban (HB 481) into Georgia law. This law bans abortion after a fetal heartbeat can be detected. This is generally accepted to be at the six-week mark. Exceptions to the ban are in cases of rape, incest, or to preserve the mother’s life. Planned Parenthood sued to overturn the law.
• 2022: The Supreme Court decides in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that the Constitution does not confer the right of abortion to U.S. citizens. The ruling overturned Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, leaving abortion rights to be defined at the state level.
• 2022: The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules that HB 481, Georgia’s ban on abortion after six weeks of gestation, is legal and immediately enforceable.