Georgia was invoked within the first 15 minutes of the presidential debate, with President Joe Biden highlighting the state’s abortion law, which bans most abortions once a doctor can detect fetal cardiac activity, typically about six weeks into a pregnancy and before many know they are pregnant.

”We’re in a state where if you’re six weeks — you don’t even know if you’re pregnant or not — and you cannot see the doctor and have him decide on what your circumstances are,” Biden said.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump face off during their first presidential debate at CNN.

Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

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Credit: Jason Getz / Jason.Getz@ajc.com

Former President Donald Trump took credit for the three U.S. Supreme Court justices he nominated who voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed a nationwide right to abortion. That decision allowed states to set their own restrictions.

Trump also said he agreed with a recent Supreme Court decision that allows the continued use of mifepristone to induce an abortion. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade, anti-abortion advocates challenged the 2000 FDA approval of mifepristone, one of two pills that are used to induce an abortion up to about 10 weeks of pregnancy.

”I agree with their decision and I will not block it,” Trump said.

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President Donald Trump shakes hands with AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Washington, as Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz watch. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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Corbin Spencer, right, field director of New Georgia Project and volunteer Rodney King, left, help Rueke Uyunwa register to vote. The influential group is shutting down after more than a decade. (Hyosub Shin/AJC 2017)

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