Kemp Refuses to Rule Out Harsher Abortion Restrictions

During Debate, Kemp Refuses to Answer if He’d Support More Abortion Restrictions if Re-elected, Says He’s “Not Going To…Say Yes Or No”

During last night’s final Georgia gubernatorial debate, Gov. Brian Kemp refused to answer when when asked if he would sign legislation to further restrict abortion access if re-elected. Kemp’s non-answer of “we’ll look at those when the time comes” keeps the door open for additional restrictions on access to abortion in Georgia. 

Watch the clip here:

• Moderator: “Let me press you a bit on that. If the legislature passes a more restrictive abortion law — abortion bill, would you sign that bill?”

• Kemp: “Well, I’m not going to, you know, say yes or no to any specific piece of legislation without actually seeing exactly what it’s doing…but when you’re governor, you have to deal with all kind of legislative issues that are out there. So we’ll look at those when the time comes.”

Jailing Doctors: During the debate, Kemp also confirmed doctors would face prosecution under his abortion ban. A recent report from HuffPost dug into how Kemp’s abortion ban could also open pregnant women up to prosecution – even those who had a natural miscarriage. Because abortion is “medically indistinguishable” from a miscarriage, Kemp’s restrictive law “empowers officials to scrutinize, surveil and criminalize not only women seeking abortion care, but also women with wanted pregnancies.”

Further Restrictions: Kemp has already signed an extreme six-week ban on abortion, which makes it illegal before many women even know they’re pregnant, and has repeatedly stated his staunch opposition to any exceptions for rape or incest in an abortion ban.

The governor has also refused to “specifically respond to how medical emergencies would be deciphered” under his ban on abortion and as the HuffPost report notes, Kemp has said “little to nothing” about the law, particularly on its enforcement, “despite its central place in his 2019 campaign.”

###