Deborah Gonzalez, the District Attorney for the judicial circuit that covers Clarke and Oconee counties, says her office will not prosecute cases stemming from the new Georgia law that restricts access to abortion. The Gonzalez statement stems from Friday’s US Supreme Court ruling, which overturned the Roe v Wade decision and returned abortion laws to the states.
From Deborah Gonzalez…
The Supreme Court issued a decision heard around the world, a decision overturning the constitutional protection of a woman’s bodily autonomy. The overturning of Roe v. Wade will not end abortions but it will end the lives of countless women. It will devastate families. It will cause harm to communities.
As your District Attorney, I will not prosecute women seeking reproductive health care. I will not prosecute doctors providing women with care. I will not be complacent in a system attempting to strip away the rights of American citizens. I stand with the 82 elected prosecutors around the country that pledge not to criminalize abortion. I stand with the 61% of Americans who believe in the right to choose.
The potential ripple effect of this devastating decision is enormous. Justice Clarence Thomas has written a concurrent opinion that the Supreme Court should now also reconsider Griswold, Lawrence, and Obergefell. These rulings currently protect contraception, same-sex relationships, and same-sex marriage. With today’s decision the Supreme Court has dipped their toes in the waters of years past and is attempting to reverse the current. Our rights are under attack.
With the overturning of Roe, and an uncertain future of protections looming on the horizon let me be clear and re-state again that my job as District Attorney is to prosecute in the interest of justice, and in the best interest of the people. My job is to keep our communities safe, the criminalization of abortion is the antithesis of building safer communities.