Partial-Birth Abortions

  1. Law
  2. Georgia Code
  3. Crimes and Offenses
  4. Offenses Against Public Health and Morals
  5. Abortion
  6. Partial-Birth Abortions

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  1. As used in this Code section, the term:
    1. "Fetus" means the biological offspring of human parents.
    2. "Partial-birth abortion" means an abortion in which the person performing the abortion partially vaginally delivers a living human fetus before ending the life of the fetus and completing the delivery.
  2. Any person who knowingly performs a partial-birth abortion and thereby ends the life of a human fetus shall, upon conviction thereof, be punished by a fine not to exceed $5,000.00, imprisonment for not more than five years, or both. This prohibition shall not apply to a partial-birth abortion that is necessary to save the life of the mother because her life is endangered by a physical disorder, physical illness, or physical injury, including a life-endangering condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, provided that no other medical procedure will suffice to save the mother's life.
    1. The father of the fetus, and the maternal grandparents of the fetus if the mother has not attained the age of 18 years of age at the time of the abortion, may obtain appropriate relief in a civil action, unless the pregnancy resulted from the plaintiff's criminal conduct or the plaintiff consented to the abortion.
    2. Such relief shall include:
      1. Money damages for all injuries, psychological and physical, occasioned by the violation of this Code section; and
      2. Statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the partial-birth abortion.
  4. A woman upon whom a partial-birth abortion is performed may not be prosecuted under this Code section for violating this Code section or any provision thereof, or for conspiracy or for an attempt to violate this Code section or any provision thereof.

(Code 1981, §16-12-144, enacted by Ga. L. 1997, p. 142, § 2.)

Cross references.

- Provision that enumeration of rights shall not exclude other inherent rights, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XXIX.

Law reviews.

- For article commenting on the enactment of this Code section, see 14 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 250 (1997). For annual survey on healthcare law, see 70 Mercer L. Rev. 1053 (2019).

JUDICIAL DECISIONS

Court approved parties' consent decree stipulation in plaintiff's action which challenged constitutionality of O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144, which stipulation provided that statute would be enforced only as to abortions performed after the point of viability; that the term "living human fetus" as used in that statute meant "viable human fetus"; and that the statute applied only to abortions in which an "intact dilation and extraction" abortion procedure was used. Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1998).

RESEARCH REFERENCES

ALR.

- Validity, construction, and application of statutory restrictions on partial birth abortions, 76 A.L.R.5th 637.

ARTICLE 6 HUMAN BODY TRAFFIC

Law reviews.

- For note, "Beyond the 'Tiers' of Human Trafficking Victims: Islamic Law's Ability to Push the Muslim World to the Top of the United States Trafficking Tier Placements and into Compliance with International Law," see 39 Ga. J. Int'l & Comp. L. 391 (2011).


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