Roe Overturned: Kemp Ready to Gut Women’s Reproductive Rights if Re-Elected

Brian Kemp’s near total ban on abortion, before most women know they’re pregnant, set to go into effect

With Roe v. Wade overturned, Brian Kemp stands ready to double down on his long record of attacking women’s reproductive rights and enact even stricter bans in Georgia that could make all abortion illegal and even put women and doctors in jail.  

Kemp has been ruthless in rolling back reproductive rights as governor. He bragged on the campaign trail about signing “the toughest abortion bill in the country” in 2019, which makes it a crime to seek an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy, before many women even know they’re pregnant. He’s also been a vocal supporter of the Texas abortion ban, which outlawed abortion and punished doctors who performed abortions with jail time.

Kemp’s extreme record on abortion suggests he’s prepared to push through an even more extreme ban in Georgia and he’s refused to rule out his fellow GOP candidates’ calls for a total ban on abortion, even in cases of rape, incest, or danger to the mother’s life.

Read more about Kemp’s record of attacking reproductive rights:

Kemp signed a six-week abortion ban in Georgia:

• Kemp bragged about signing the “toughest abortion bill in the country” in 2019, which bans abortion before most women even know they’re pregnant — it could go into effect now that Roe v. Wade is overturned.

• As noted by the AJC: Overturning Roe would pave the way for an anti-abortion measure signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019 to take effect. The state’s law, blocked by a federal appeals court, would ban abortions…typically about six weeks into a pregnancy, before many women know they are pregnant.

Kemp has been vocal in his support for ending abortion rights entirely:

• Kemp publicly rooted for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade in the case at hand, tweeting that he joins “thousands of pro-life conservatives across the country…in prayer” that the Mississippi challenge to abortion rights succeeds. 

• In a February primary ad, Kemp doubled down on his belief that women shouldn’t be able to access safe and legal abortions, and criticized his Republican opponent for not signing a brief in 2020 in support of overturning Roe v. Wade.

Kemp has indicated he may enact even stricter laws that make all abortion illegal and charge women and doctors with crimes:

• Kemp has spoken out in favor of a Texas anti-abortion law which would put bounties on the heads of people seeking or providing abortion care – saying he “appreciate[d]” the Texas law, which makes no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.

• Kemp also promoted a bill that would ban nearly all abortion care and punish doctors wtih 10 years in prison for performing the procedure.

###