Summary — SR 84 (Proposed Georgia Constitutional Amendment: “Reproductive Freedom”)
Note: the provided file contains multiple distinct resolutions from different states that share the identifier “SR 84.” This summary focuses on the substantive constitutional amendment text (LC 52 0674) that proposes adding a “Reproductive Freedom” section to Article I of the Georgia Constitution — the provision most fully developed in the document and consistent with the list of state senate sponsors. Other SR 84 items in the file (Hawaii PFAS working group, memorial resolutions in Kentucky/Illinois, Michigan commemoration) are separate measures and are not summarized here.
Purpose and intent
- To add a new Section V ("Reproductive Freedom") to Article I of the Georgia Constitution recognizing a fundamental right to reproductive freedom.
- To protect individual decision‑making about pregnancy and related care from government interference, and to set constitutional limits on state regulation of abortion and other reproductive health care.
Key provisions
- Definition: “Fetal viability” is defined as the point at which, in the professional judgment of an attending health care professional and based on the facts of the case, there is a significant likelihood the fetus can survive outside the uterus without extraordinary measures.
- Scope of the right: The amendment grants every individual a fundamental right to reproductive freedom, including decisions about prenatal care, childbirth, postpartum care, contraception, sterilization, abortion care, miscarriage management, and infertility care.
- Standard for restrictions: Any denial, burden, or infringement on this right must be (1) justified by a compelling state interest and (2) achieved by the least restrictive means. The amendment narrows what counts as a “compelling state interest” to measures aimed at protecting the health of the individual seeking care and requires consistency with accepted clinical standards and evidence‑based medicine.
- Post‑viability regulation: The state may regulate abortion care after fetal viability, but may not prohibit an abortion that, in the attending clinician’s professional judgment, is medically indicated to protect the life or physical or mental health of the pregnant individual.
- Protections from penalties: The state may not penalize, prosecute, or take adverse action against an individual based on pregnancy outcomes (including miscarriage, stillbirth, or abortion), nor penalize persons for aiding a consenting individual in exercising reproductive choices.
- Implementation clauses: The section is self‑executing and contains a severability clause (invalid provisions may be severed without invalidating the rest).
Who would be affected
- Individuals making reproductive and pregnancy‑related health decisions.
- Health care providers who deliver reproductive health services (physicians, hospitals, clinics).
- State agencies, prosecutors, and courts — existing and future state laws and enforcement practices that restrict reproductive care would be subject to the amendment’s strict standard.
- Insurers, employers, and public health programs potentially affected by constitutional protection of covered services.
Procedural and timeline aspects
- This measure is a proposed amendment to the Georgia Constitution and must be submitted to Georgia voters for ratification under Article X of the Georgia Constitution. The resolution includes sample ballot language.
- Sponsors: introduced by a group of Georgia state senators (including Sally Harrell, Kim Jackson, Elena Parent, Jason Esteves, and others as listed in the document).
- Related/companion: SCR 103 is listed as a companion measure; LC 4478 is noted as a replacement draft.
Potential impact (summary)
- If ratified by voters, the amendment would constitutionally protect broad reproductive rights in Georgia and subject state restrictions to strict judicial scrutiny (compelling interest + least restrictive means). It would limit the legislature’s ability to ban or criminalize many aspects of reproductive health care and would provide legal protections for persons and providers involved in reproductive health services, while still allowing carefully defined post‑viability regulation tied to protecting the patient’s health.
