Georgia bill would ban abortion pills by mail, require exams

ATLANTA (AP) — Republicans in Georgia have introduced a bill that bans the delivery of abortion pills by mail. It would require anyone who wants to use abortion pills to visit a doctor in advance and then return to pick up the pills.

The lawmakers also want to require women to undergo physical exams including ultrasounds, and then sign an extensive consent form at least 24 hours before doctors provide the pills.

Senate Bill 351, introduced Tuesday by Republican Sen. Bruce Thompson of White and cosponsored by 23 other GOP senators, responds to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's December decision that changed a federal rule that had required women to pick up the medication in person. The federal government had already set aside the rule temporarily during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thompson, who's running statewide for labor commissioner, said he thinks it's too risky for physicians to dispense the pills without an in-person exam.

“It puts great risk on those females who make that choice," he said. “What we're asking is that these females have a physician involved.”

Supporters of abortion rights held a news conference Tuesday to promote a legislative resolution that would go in the opposite direction, reaffirming abortion availability in Georgia.

“We need to continue to reframe this issue,” said Rep. Park Cannon, an Atlanta Democrat. “Access to abortion in Georgia is supported by 70% of voters and the elected officials are playing games with health care during a pandemic.”

Georgia would join more than a dozen Republican-led states that have passed measures limiting access to the pills, including outlawing delivery by mail. A law with some of the same language was passed in Oklahoma last year, suggesting the Georgia bill is part of a coordinated nationwide effort by...