A bill that would shutter Georgia's abortion clinics and require the procedure to be performed only in hospitals was essentially killed for the year Friday by a Senate committee.
Senate Bill 209 was tabled by the Rules Committee after more than two days of often-heated debate. Tabling it at this point in the session makes it extremely unlikely it would reach the full Senate this year.
The bill, sponsored by Sen. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, needs more work, said Rules Chairman Don Balfour, R-Snellville. Loudermilk said afterward that he was disappointed but agreed that more work is necessary.
Opponents of the measure criticized Loudermilk and the bill's supporters for the manner in which the legislation was created. SB 209 originally would ban abortions after the 20th week of pregnancy. But as the measure was brought to the Rules Committee on Thursday, Loudermilk unveiled a new version that goes much further in restricting abortion.
Loudermilk defended the changes and the proposal, saying it is intended to improve the health and safety of the nearly 36,000 women in Georgia who have abortions each year.
Earl Rogers, senior vice president of the Georgia Hospital Association, told the committee the bill would pose a challenge for his group as all but about 4,000 abortions are performed each year in clinics, doctor's offices or ambulatory surgical centers. The state's hospitals, under the bill, would have to absorb all the remaining procedures, which could burden already-busy facilities.
But, Rogers said, his group was not taking a formal position on the bill.
Mike Griffin, the legislative director for Georgia Right to Life, one of the state's leading opponents of abortion rights, said while the bill was not sponsored by his group, it supports any effort that would reduce abortion.
A separate abortion bill, Senate Bill 210, could still advance. The Senate Rules Committee could decide to send it to the full Senate on Wednesday. That bill says any doctor who performs an abortion that has not followed a series of state-stipulated actions, such as notifying parents of a minor getting an abortion or performing an ultrasound for the women, can be sued for wrongful death.
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