O.C.G.A.
O.C.G.A.

O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144 (2019)

Partial-birth abortions

✓ O.C.G.A. — 2019 edition (Public.Resource.Org Release 73)
Code text and O.C.G.A. statutory annotations on this page reflect the 2019 Official Code of Georgia Annotated (Public.Resource.Org Release 73, 2019-08-21; public domain per Georgia v. Public.Resource.Org, 2020). The Syfert case-law annotations in Notes of Decisions, below, are current.
Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section GA-LEGlegis.ga.gov (official) JustiaJustia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

(a) 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.

(b) 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 partialbirth 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.

(c)(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:

(A) Money damages for all injuries, psychological and physical, occasioned by the violation of this Code section; and

(B) Statutory damages equal to three times the cost of the partial-birth abortion.

(d) 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.

History

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

Annotations

Cross references. Provision that enumeration of rights shall not exclude other inherent rights, U.S. Const., amend. 9, Ga. Const. 1983, Art. I, Sec. I, Para. XXIX.

Law reviews. For article commenting on the enactment of this Code section, see 14 Georgia 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, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 22351 (N.D. Ga. 1997).

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

OFFENSES/HEALTH & MORALS

International Law,” see 39 Ga. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 391 (2011).

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1997–1997 · leading case: Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1997).
Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment
Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1997). · cites it 10× “§ 16-12-141(a) and adds a new section, O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144, which provides in pertinent part: (b) 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.”
— 16-12-144(a)(2) — 1 case
Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1997). “§ 16-12-141(a) and adds a new section, O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144, which provides in pertinent part: (b) 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.”
— 16-12-144(b) — 1 case
Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1997). “§ 16-12-141(a) and adds a new section, O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144, which provides in pertinent part: (b) 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.”
— 16-12-144(e) — 1 case
Midtown Hosp. v. Miller, 36 F. Supp. 2d 1360 (N.D. Ga. 1997). “§ 16-12-141(a) and adds a new section, O.C.G.A. § 16-12-144, which provides in pertinent part: (b) 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.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.