Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams says she's 'appalled' by the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade

• Stacey Abrams said she was "appalled" by the Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, per the AJC.
• "We have good people in the state who know this is wrong," she told a group of reporters.

Georgia Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams on Friday said she was "appalled" by the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Abrams, who is running in a rematch this fall against Gov. Brian Kemp after narrowly losing to the Republican in 2018, said she was angered by the 5-4 vote that struck down the landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion in the United States and afforded a constitutional right to the procedure.

"This is going to have implications for the health care decisions of women across the state but especially in our rural communities," she told the newspaper, alongside other reporters.

She continued: "If you are in an urban community, we know that you can't simply buy your way out of this. You're going to have to travel 250 miles to try to find some help. And we know for so many Georgians that is not a possibility. I am angry about this decision. I am appalled and I am absolutely committed to pushing back."

The former state House minority leader also said that most Georgians didn't support the ruling.

"We have good people in the state who know this is wrong," she said. "More than half of the state of Georgia disagrees with this decision."

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution poll released in January revealed that 68 percent of respondents did not want to see Roe overturned, while 24 percent would welcome the decision.

Abrams said that if she is elected to serve in the Governor's Mansion, she would be committed to ensuring abortion rights for the women of the state.

"I'm going to do everything I can in this election and beyond to make certain that we can restore the fundamental right to freedom for women in the state of Georgia," she said.

Kemp, who has consistently opposed abortion, praised the court's decision overturning Roe.

"Today's landmark ruling is a historic victory for life," he said in a written statement on Friday. "I hope our law will be fully implemented and ultimately protect countless unborn lives here in the Peach State."

The state law currently allows women to get an abortion for up to 20 weeks of pregnancy.

However, the Supreme Court's ruling now creates a pathway for the 2019 anti-abortion bill that Kemp signed into law which would bar most abortions once a heartbeat is detected in the womb, which occurs roughly six weeks into pregnancy.

Many women are unaware that they are pregnant during that short time frame.

GOP state Attorney General Chris Carr on Friday asked the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the 2019 law go into effect, per the Journal-Constitution.

In 2020, the District Court for the Northern District of Georgia struck down the "heartbeat" law and the state appealed the decision.

It then headed to the 11th Circuit, where the judges heard arguments last September to put the case to the side pending the Supreme Court's decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.

On Friday, the high court in a 6-3 decision upheld the 2018 Mississippi law that banned most abortions in the state.