SB 246: "Reproductive Freedom Act"; enact

Senate Bill 246 would undo most of Georgia's current abortion restrictions. It removes the legal definition of an unborn child as a natural person, repeals the criminal abortion statutes in Title 16, repeals the Woman's Right to Know Act and the law governing physicians' obligations before performing abortions, and strikes references to abortion from child support, custody, insurance, and tax law. In their place, the bill creates a new Chapter 9A of Title 31 called the Reproductive Freedom Act. It declares that pregnant individuals have a fundamental right to choose to carry a pregnancy to term or have an abortion, bars state and local law enforcement from arresting people for obtaining, performing, or assisting with an abortion, and lets people sue for injunctive relief and attorney's fees if a state or local official violates the chapter. It also revises the parental notification law for minors seeking abortions to add exceptions, removes the ban on insurance coverage for abortion, and requires the Department of Community Health to pay for abortion services for Medicaid recipients. The bill does not include an effective date section beyond the standard repeal-of-conflicting-laws clause.

• Removes the legal classification of an unborn child as a 'natural person' and eliminates the fetal heartbeat standard from Georgia's definitions code (O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1).
• Repeals Article 5 of Chapter 12, Title 16, which contained Georgia's criminal abortion offenses, and marks that article 'reserved.'
• Repeals the Woman's Right to Know Act and the physician's-obligation chapter in Title 31, replacing them with a new Chapter 9A titled the 'Reproductive Freedom Act' that declares abortion and contraception fundamental rights.
• Adds exceptions to the Parental Notification Act letting a healthcare professional waive parental notice if notice could cause physical or emotional harm to the minor, or if the professional cannot locate a parent after reasonable effort.
• Removes bans on insurance coverage of abortion in state employee benefit plans and certain qualified health plans, and repeals the code section prohibiting abortion coverage in qualified health plans.
• Adds a new Code section requiring the Department of Community Health to pay for abortion and abortion-related services for all Medicaid recipients.

Pregnant individuals and their healthcare providers (physicians, physician assistants, advanced practice registered nurses), unemancipated minors seeking abortions and their parents or guardians, insurance companies and state employee health plans, Medicaid recipients, and state and local government officials and law enforcement agencies.

If enacted, abortion would no longer be a crime in Georgia, minors could get court or professional waivers to skip parental notice in more situations, insurance and Medicaid could cover abortion care, and people could sue officials who interfere with the new reproductive rights, changing both what is legal and who pays for these services.

• Section 3 revises O.C.G.A. § 1-2-1 to remove the definition of 'natural person' as including an unborn child and deletes the fetal heartbeat population-count rule.
• Section 7 repeals Article 5 of Chapter 12, Title 16, eliminating Georgia's criminal abortion statutes.
• Section 16 repeals the Woman's Right to Know Act and enacts a new Chapter 9A ('Reproductive Freedom Act') declaring fundamental rights to abortion and contraception and barring arrests for obtaining or performing abortions (O.C.G.A. §§ 31-9A-1 through 31-9A-8).
• Section 6 amends the Parental Notification Act (O.C.G.A. § 15-11-682) to add waiver exceptions when notice could cause harm to the minor or when a parent cannot be reasonably located.
• Section 17 repeals Chapter 9B of Title 31 concerning a physician's obligations before performing an abortion.
• Section 20 repeals O.C.G.A. § 33-24-59.17, which had barred certain qualified health plans from covering abortion.
• Section 25 removes the exclusion of abortion services from the state employees' health benefit plan (O.C.G.A. § 45-18-4).
• Section 27 adds O.C.G.A. § 49-4-156.2, requiring the Department of Community Health to pay for abortion and abortion-related services for Medicaid recipients.

1. 2025-02-26Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-24Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Sally Harrell (D, SD-040)Primary sponsor
• Kenya Wicks (D, SD-034)
• Harold Jones (D, SD-022)
• Kim Jackson (D, SD-041)
• Tonya Anderson (D, SD-043)
• Nan Orrock (D, SD-036)
• RaShaun Kemp (D, SD-038)
• Sonya Halpern (D, SD-039)
• Donzella James (D, SD-028)
• Nikki Merritt (D, SD-009)
• Freddie Sims (D, SD-012)
• Emanuel Jones (D, SD-010)
• Nabilah Islam Parkes (D, SD-007)
• Derek Mallow (D, SD-002)
• Josh McLaurin (D, SD-014)
• Elena Parent (D, SD-044)
• David Lucas (D, SD-026)
• Sheikh Rahman (D, SD-005)
• Ed Harbison (D, SD-015)
• Gail Davenport (D, SD-017)
• Michael Rhett (D, SD-033)
• Randal Mangham (D, SD-055)
• Jason Esteves (D, SD-035)

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