Many have been outraged by Georgia’s controversial law that bans abortions when a heartbeat is detectable. Moreover, the “Heartbeat” bill goes beyond abortion and cuts off access to healthcare, which affects Black women. Some in the entertainment industry are vowing to leave the state but Perry says he will stay in the state that means so much to him.
Perry, 50, told the Associated Press, “Atlanta has been the dream. It has been the promised land. So when I got here, this whole state and city has been amazing to me and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. Also, I put $250 million in the ground here and in the studio. So when you have a quarter of a billion dollars sat down in the ground, you can’t just up and leave.”
Alyssa Milano, Mark Hamill and Mandy Moore have suggested a boycott of Georgia. The abortion ban begins Jan. 1.
The “Heartbeat” laws target Black women and lawsuit filed in a U.S. district court in northern Georgia in June stated, “This is a constitutional challenge. This law is an affront to the dignity and health of Georgians.” NPR reports the suit says the “abortion restriction an attack that is particularly aimed at low-income residents, people of color and those who live in rural areas.”
“Black women know that whenever you criminalize abortion, then it’s Black women who are going to be locked up,” Georgia state Rep. Renitta Shannon told Rolling Stone. “Whenever you don’t cover abortions through insurance, it’s young Black women who are going to suffer — we’re the majority of the minimum-wage earners. All this stuff is connected.”
Black Enterprise reported back in May, “The same facilities that provide abortions are also safe havens for women to receive prenatal care, sexual education, and pregnancy care. These facilities are particularly crucial to low-income Black women and those in rural areas.”
The outlet continued, “The states with high populations of Black women—and some with the worst records on Black women’s healthcare—are the ones pushing hardest for abortion bans… As a result, many of these states are closing facilities that not only provide abortions but other critical women’s health services.”
“Heartbeat Bill,” allow criminal charges against both doctors and pregnant women seeking abortions. In some states, like Ohio, it would characterize an “unborn human” as a person under Ohio’s criminal code, meaning abortions could be punishable by life in prison or even the death penalty.
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