Thanks to a law protecting a citizen’s right to privacy, Georgia may very well be able to keep abortion legal in the state following the Supreme Court’s expected reversal of Roe v. Wade.
State Sen. Jen Jordan, a Democratic candidate for attorney general tells the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “People don’t think of Georgia as progressive, but we have some of the strongest privacy protections.”
Jordan is referring to a ruling made in 1905 in favor of artist Paolo Pavesich, who filed a suit against New England Mutual Life Insurance for invasion of privacy after the company failed to get his permission for an advertisement using his image. Pavesich won the suit, and the Georgia courts became the first in the nation to have laws on the books protecting personal privacy.
All of this is vital since it appears that the U.S. Supreme Court intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, per a leaked draft majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. If that ruling goes through as expected, federal protections would disappear, and the decision on legal abortion would fall to the states.
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Attorney Josh Belinfante, tells the AJC that using Georgia’s privacy precedents is a “real open question,” adding, “Georgia will not necessarily follow the Supreme Court’s lead.”
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Jordan told the AJC that if she’s elected she will file a suit using Georgia’s privacy laws to secure legal abortion in the state.
In 2019, Gov. Brian Kemp signed a law banning abortion after six weeks of pregnancy. “Our job is to do what is right, not what is easy,” Kemp said at the time. “We are called to be strong and courageous, and we will not back down.” The law was put on hold until Roe is ruled on in June, according to the AJC—throwing the law back onto the shoulders of the Georgia Supreme Court.
Georgia’s justices have historically been appointed by the governor, but they must run for office. Once elected, incumbents rarely lose. The state’s governors have been Republican since 2003. In 2016, Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal signed a law expanding the Court from seven to nine, which aligns with the state’s constitution allowing up to nine justices—all but one of whom were appointed by Republican governors.
Sam Olens, a Republican and a former Georgia Attorney General, told the AJC that although the privacy law to uphold abortion rights in the state certainly has merit, he doubts whether a state attorney general would challenge any law passed by the General Assembly.
“It seems to me it would be a violation of the oath of office,” Olens said. “Certainly, I’m not aware of any other instance where that has happened.”
