An attempt by Commissioner Dana Barrett to match the city of Atlanta’s support for Access Reproductive Care Southeast went down to defeat before Fulton County commissioners Wednesday — and brought out ideological differences and personal resentments between commissioners along the way.
The organization provides pregnancy health services including abortion — and assistance in obtaining abortions out of state.
Barrett sought to donate $300,000 to ARC Southeast, the same amount Atlanta city council approved Aug. 1. She cited the overturn of Roe v. Wade in June 2022 and Georgia’s ban on most abortions after six weeks’ gestation — before many people know they’re pregnant.
The measure failed with three votes in favor and two against, because of the county rule that a majority of the 7-member commission must vote in favor of items for passage.
Barrett said new legal limits on abortion deepen existing inequities in local health care, inordinately impacting minorities.
“We find ourselves in a situation where access to care has been severely limited,” she said. The city funded ARC Southeast last year too, but a county resolution at that time sponsored by Commissioner Natalie Hall failed.
Close to two dozen members of the public spoke for and against the donation, including Atlanta City Council Member Liliana Bakhtiari who said the city approved funding ARC Southeast unanimously and asked commissioners to do the same.
Further restricting or banning abortion will increase the maternal death toll, while education and contraception such as ARC Southeast also provides would reduce the number of abortions performed, Bakhtiari said.
Among the opponents was former State Rep. Alveda King, who now heads the anti-abortion group Speak For Life. At the end of her comments, King recited the Lord’s Prayer, singing the last two lines. Most of the opponents cited religious reasons.
Supporters of the funding said ARC Southeast operates the state’s only fund that helps people travel outside Georgia to abort pregnancies that are already past the six-week mark.
The Fulton-based nonprofit “provides funding and logistical support for reproductive healthcare including transportation to appointments, childcare, and language access services via interpreters,” according to Barrett’s resolution.
Commissioner Bridget Thorne cited her own faith in opposing the resolution, but also said the county can’t afford the donation, that the money should be redirected to senior services, and that Barrett previously opposed starting any new programs.
Thorne said the county funds many social programs but those require an application process. Recipients only get a fraction of what Barrett proposed for ARC Southeast, but ARC Southeast would not have similar accountability for how the money is spent, Thorne said.
She said the main purpose of Barrett’s resolution was “driving wedges between us as commissioners.”
In the final vote, Barrett was supported by commissioners Hall and Marvin Arrington Jr. Commissioners Abdur-Rahman and Bob Ellis were opposed. Chairman Robb Pitts did not vote and Thorne had left her seat by the time the vote was taken.
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