Information to Be Made Available by the Department of Public Health; Format Requirements; Availability; Requirements for Website

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  4. Woman's Right to Know
  5. Information to Be Made Available by the Department of Public Health; Format Requirements; Availability; Requirements for Website

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  1. The Department of Public Health shall cause to be published in English and in each language which is the primary language of 2 percent or more of the state's population and shall cause to be available on the state website provided for in subsection (d) of this Code section the following printed materials in such a way as to ensure that the information is easily comprehensible:
    1. Geographically indexed materials designed to inform the female of public and private agencies and services available to assist a female through pregnancy, upon childbirth, and while the child is dependent, including adoption agencies, which shall include a comprehensive list of the agencies available, a description of the services they offer, and a description of the manner, including telephone numbers and website addresses, in which they might be contacted or, at the option of such department, printed materials including a toll-free, 24 hour telephone number which may be called to obtain, orally or by a tape recorded message tailored to the ZIP Code entered by the caller, such a list and description of agencies in the locality of the caller and of the services they offer;

      (1.1) Geographically indexed materials designed to inform the female of public and private facilities and services available to assist a female with obtaining an ultrasound which shall include a comprehensive list of the facilities available, a description of the services they offer, and a description of the manner, including telephone numbers and website addresses, in which they might be contacted or, at the option of such department, printed materials including a toll-free, 24 hour telephone number which may be called to obtain, orally or by a tape recorded message tailored to the ZIP Code entered by the caller, such a list and description of facilities in the locality of the caller and of the services they offer;

    2. Materials designed to inform the female of the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the unborn child at two-week gestational increments from the time when a female can be known to be pregnant to full term, including any relevant information on the possibility of the unborn child's survival and pictures representing the development of unborn children at two-week gestational increments, provided that any such pictures must contain the dimensions of the fetus and must be factually accurate for the stage of pregnancy depicted. The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only factually accurate scientific information about the unborn child at the various gestational ages. The material shall also contain objective information describing the methods of abortion procedures commonly employed, the medical risks commonly associated with each such procedure, the possible detrimental psychological effects of abortion, and the medical risks commonly associated with carrying a child to term; and
    3. Materials with the following statement concerning unborn children with a detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, and of 20 weeks' or more gestational age:

      "As early as six weeks' gestation, an unborn child may have a detectable human heartbeat.By 20 weeks' gestation, an unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain.There is evidence that by 20 weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade certain stimuli in a manner which in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response to pain.Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks' gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery."

      The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate scientific information about an unborn child at the various gestational ages.

  2. The materials referred to in subsection (a) of this Code section shall be printed in a typeface large enough to be clearly legible. All pictures and print appearing on the website shall be clearly legible. All information and pictures shall be accessible with an industry standard browser, requiring no additional plug-ins.
  3. The materials required under this Code section shall be available at no cost from the Department of Public Health upon request and in a reasonably appropriate number to any person, facility, or hospital.
  4. The Department of Public Health shall develop and maintain a secure Internet website to provide the information described in this Code section. No information regarding who uses the website shall be collected or maintained. The Department of Public Health shall monitor the website on a weekly basis to prevent and correct tampering.

(Code 1981, §31-9A-4, enacted by Ga. L. 2005, p. 1450, § 6/HB 197; Ga. L. 2007, p. 299, § 4/HB 147; Ga. L. 2009, p. 453, § 1-4/HB 228; Ga. L. 2011, p. 705, § 6-3/HB 214; Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 8/HB 481.)

The 2019 amendment, effective January 1, 2020, inserted "with a detectable human heartbeat, as such term is defined in Code Section 1-2-1, and" in paragraph (a)(3); in the ending undesignated paragraphs following paragraph (a)(3), substituted "an unborn child" for "the unborn child" in the second sentence of the statement and near the end of the second undesignated paragraph; and added the first sentence in the statement paragraph.

Editor's notes.

- Ga. L. 2007, p. 299, § 1/HB 147, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Woman's Ultrasound Right to Know Act.'"

Ga. L. 2007, p. 299, § 2/HB 147, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "(a) The General Assembly finds that:

"(1) It is essential to the psychological and physical well-being of a woman considering an abortion that she receive complete and accurate information on the reality and status of her pregnancy and of her unborn child;

"(2) The decision to abort 'is an important and often a stressful one, and it is desirable and imperative that it be made with full knowledge of its nature and consequences.' Planned Parenthood v. Danforth , 428 U.S. 52, 67 (1976); and

"(3) The knowledgeable exercise of a woman's decision to have an abortion depends on the extent to which the woman receives sufficient information to make an informed choice between two alternatives: giving birth or having an abortion.

"(b) Based on the findings in subsection (a) of this section, it is the purpose of this Act to:

"(1) Ensure that every woman considering an abortion receive complete information on the reality and status of her pregnancy and of her unborn child and that every woman submitting to an abortion do so only after giving her voluntary and informed consent to the abortion procedure;

"(2) Protect unborn children from a woman's uninformed decision to have an abortion;

"(3) Reduce 'the risk that a woman may elect an abortion, only to discover later, with devastating psychological consequences, that her decision was not fully informed' Planned Parenthood v. Casey , 505 U.S. 833, 882 (1992); and

"(4) Adopt the construction of the term 'medical emergency' accepted by the United States Supreme Court in Planned Parenthood v. Casey , 505 U.S. 833 (1992)."

Ga. L. 2007, p. 299, § 7/HB 147, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Nothing in this Act shall be construed as creating or recognizing a right to abortion. It is not the intention of this Act to make lawful an abortion that is currently unlawful."

Ga. L. 2007, p. 299, § 8/HB 147, not codified by the General Assembly, provides for severability.

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 1/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "This Act shall be known and may be cited as the 'Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act.'"

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 2/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "The General Assembly of Georgia makes the following findings:"

"(1) In the founding of the United States of America, the State of Georgia and the several states affirmed that: 'We hold these Truths to be self evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - that to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among men;'

"(2) To protect the fundamental rights of all persons, and specifically to protect the fundamental rights of particular classes of persons who had not previously been recognized under law, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, providing that, 'nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws';

"(3) Modern medical science, not available decades ago, demonstrates that unborn children are a class of living, distinct persons and more expansive state recognition of unborn children as persons did not exist when Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) and Roe v. Wade (1973) established abortion related precedents;

"(4) The State of Georgia, applying reasoned judgment to the full body of modern medical science, recognizes the benefits of providing full legal recognition to an unborn child above the minimum requirements of federal law;

"(5) Article I, Section I, Paragraphs I and II of the Constitution of the State of Georgia affirm that '[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property except by due process of law'; and that '[p]rotection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws'; and

"(6) It shall be the policy of the State of Georgia to recognize unborn children as natural persons."

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 13/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "Any citizen of this state shall have standing and the right to intervene and defend in any action challenging the constitutionality of any portion of this Act."

Ga. L. 2019, p. 711, § 14/HB 481, not codified by the General Assembly, provides: "All provisions of this Act shall be severable in accordance with Code Section 1-1-3."

Law reviews.

- For article on the 2011 amendment of this Code section, see 28 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 147 (2011). For article on the 2019 amendment of this Code section, see 36 Ga. St. U.L. Rev. 155 (2019). For note on 2007 amendment of this Code section, see 24 Ga. St. U. L. Rev. 161 (2007).


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