HB 598: Reproductive Freedom Act; enact

Georgia currently restricts abortion through a range of laws, including a ban tied to detection of a fetal heartbeat, a 24-hour waiting period known as the 'Woman's Right to Know Act,' and provisions defining unborn children as legal persons for some purposes. House Bill 598 would repeal most of these restrictions across multiple sections of Georgia law, including the criminal abortion statute, the Woman's Right to Know Act, and provisions barring insurance coverage of abortion for state employees and through certain health plans. In their place, the bill creates a new Chapter 9A of Title 31 called the 'Reproductive Freedom Act,' declaring that every pregnant individual has a fundamental right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term or have an abortion, and that a fetus does not have independent legal rights. It bars state and local law enforcement from arresting people for obtaining or providing abortions, protects patient confidentiality for reproductive healthcare records, and requires Medicaid to cover abortion and abortion-related services. It also revises the parental notification process for minors seeking abortions and removes references to abortion from several other titles of state law, including domestic relations, education, and income tax provisions.

• Repeals Georgia's criminal abortion statute (O.C.G.A. Title 16, Chapter 12, Article 5) and the Woman's Right to Know Act, which required a 24-hour waiting period and specific counseling before an abortion.
• Creates a new Reproductive Freedom Act (O.C.G.A. Chapter 9A of Title 31) declaring a fundamental right to choose abortion, carry a pregnancy to term, or use contraception or sterilization.
• Removes the legal definition that an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat counts as a 'natural person' for population counts, income tax dependents, and wrongful death claims.
• Requires the Department of Community Health to pay for abortion and abortion-related services for all Medicaid recipients.
• Repeals bans on insurance coverage for abortion in certain qualified health plans and in the state employees' health benefit plan.
• Revises the parental notification process for minors seeking abortions, adding exceptions when notice could cause physical or emotional harm or when a parent cannot be reached.

Pregnant Georgians seeking abortion or contraception, physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants who provide reproductive healthcare, unemancipated minors seeking abortions and their parents or guardians, Medicaid recipients, state employees with state-sponsored health coverage, and insurance companies offering qualified health plans in Georgia.

If enacted, the bill would reverse Georgia's current heartbeat-based abortion ban and related restrictions, making abortion broadly legal again and requiring Medicaid and certain insurance plans to cover it. It would also change how minors seeking abortions interact with parental notification rules and remove unborn children from legal personhood definitions.

• Section 3 repeals the definition of 'natural person' that included an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat under O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1.
• Sections 5 and 6 rewrite the Parental Notification Act (O.C.G.A. §§ 15-11-681, 15-11-682), adding exceptions to notice requirements when disclosure could harm the minor.
• Section 7 repeals Article 5 of Chapter 12, Title 16, Georgia's criminal abortion statute.
• Section 16 repeals the Woman's Right to Know Act and replaces it with the new Reproductive Freedom Act (O.C.G.A. Chapter 9A, Title 31), defining abortion, pregnancy, and healthcare professional, and establishing rights to abortion and contraception, confidentiality protections, and a bar on arrests for obtaining or providing abortion.
• Section 20 repeals the prohibition on covering certain abortions through qualified health plans (O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.17).
• Section 25 removes the exclusion of abortion services from the state employees' health insurance plan (O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4).
• Section 27 adds a new Code section requiring the Department of Community Health to pay for abortion and abortion-related services under Medicaid (O.C.G.A. § 49-4-156.2).
• Section 26 removes the provision counting an unborn child with a detectable heartbeat as a dependent minor for state income tax purposes.

1. 2025-02-27House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-26House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-24House Hopper (House)

• Shea Roberts (D, HD-52)Primary sponsor
• Tanya F. Miller (D, HD-62)
• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-95)
• Kim Schofield (D, HD-63)
• Stacey Evans (D, HD-57)
• Lisa Campbell (D, HD-35)

• abortion law
• reproductive rights
• Medicaid coverage
• parental notification
• health insurance coverage