Two of Georgia’s major district attorneys say they will not prosecute abortion-related offenses in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“It is my responsibility as the elected District Attorney to set priorities for the use my office’s resources,” said Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis. “I will not be using precious tax dollars allocated to this office to pursue prosecutions based on women’s personal healthcare choices.”
That message was echoed by DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston.
“I am stating unequivocally that I’m going to use that same discretion not to prosecute these types of criminal offenses,” she said.
“The role of a district attorney is to enhance public safety while minimizing the harm that we cause in our communities and enforcing this law undermines public safety and certainly has the ability to increase harm to women, girls and families,” said Boston.
Asked for comment about county-level officials refusing to enforce the state’s law banning abortion, which was passed and signed into law in 2019 and been challenged in court ever since, top-level Republican elected officials and the spokesperson for the Republican-controlled General Assembly did not return a comment request.
Attorney General Chris Carr (R) did speak out against the rogue district attorneys.
“It’s a dereliction of duty for district attorneys and solicitors to preemptively pick and choose which laws they will enforce. It undermines the rule of law and erodes our system of self-governance,” he reportedly said.
Georgia’s abortion law, the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, is what is commonly known as a “heartbeat bill.” It would ban abortions after six weeks of pregnancy when the heartbeat of the infant can be detected.
The law was deemed unconstitutional in the U.S. Circuit Court for the Northern District of Georgia in 2020 and is currently pending before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade did not ban abortion completely but returned the decision of whether to allow abortions to the state level.
Several left-wing elected officials nationwide have similarly vowed not to prosecute abortion offenses in defiance of state laws.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Fani Willis” by Fani Willis. Photo “Sherry Boston” by Governor Brian P. Kemp Office of the Governor. Background Photo “Embryo Week 9-10” by lunar caustic. CC BY 2.0.
i thought if a person refused to do their job they got fired?
i guess not if you’re a lib DA