Sen. Jennifer Jordan, D-Georgia (Photo: Screenshot)

Attorney and State Sen. Jen Jordan, D-Atlanta, renewed her call for Gov. Brian Kemp to veto Georgia's legislation banning abortion past six weeks of pregnancy on Wednesday, after Alabama lawmakers passed a more restrictive measure.

The Alabama law would ban abortion at any point in pregnancy and make the procedure a felony subject to criminal prosecution. Doctors and medical professionals could face up to 99 years in prison. No exceptions for rape or incest were included in the legislation, which compared abortion to the Holocaust.

Like Georgia supporters, those in Alabama have expressed hopes that their law would be the one to ultimately prompt the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision recognizing women's right to choose.

“So now that Georgia has been out-crazied by Alabama,” Jordan tweeted Wednesday, “can the state of Georgia wake up from its fever dream?” Jordan once again asked the governor to veto House Bill 481.

“Let our neighbors focus on and pay for the ensuing multi-year litigation extravaganza,” said Jordan, a partner at Shamp Jordan Woodward in Atlanta. “While this happens we can focus on making people's lives better.”

Kemp is expected to sign the abortion ban. He campaigned on a pledge to pass the toughest abortion law in the country. After taking office in January, he urged lawmakers to pass the legislation and praised them after they did.

Candace Broce, director of communications and deputy executive counsel to Kemp, has said the bill is still under review.

“The Governor has until May 12 to sign, veto or decide to take no action on such legislation,” Broce said. “At this time, there is no additional information to provide on any specific measure.”

With a likely challenge waiting in federal court, Jordan asked Attorney General Chris Carr for a legal opinion on the abortion bill. “Because of the possibility of substantial legal fees associated with litigation surrounding the likely protracted defense of H.B. 481, it is important to understand your legal position as the chief legal officer of the State of Georgia,” Jordan said in a letter to Carr dated April 23.

Instead, Chief Deputy Attorney General Dennis Dunn replied saying it would be inappropriate for the office to offer such an opinion. “It is the constitutional and statutory duty of the Attorney General to defend statutes that are enacted by the General Assembly and signed into law. It is also the long-standing practice of this office not to opine on the constitutionality of either pending legislation or state statutes given those obligations that come with the office,” Dunn said.

Supporters have called the legislation a “heartbeat bill” because it outlaws abortion as soon as an embryonic pulsing sound can be detected by a transvaginal ultrasound—about six weeks. Opponents, including Jordan, argued that six weeks is too early for a heart to be formed—or for many women to know they're pregnant. Six weeks of pregnancy is only two weeks after the first missed period if a woman has a regular menstrual cycle, Jordan has said.

ACLU Georgia Legal Director Sean Young has said his office will seek a permanent injunction in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to block the law from being enforced. “Under 50 years of U.S. Supreme Court precedent, Georgia's abortion ban is blatantly unconstitutional,” Young said of state legislation. “Every federal court that has heard a challenge to such a ban has struck it down.”

“The law goes into effect in January 2020,” Young added. “We fully expect to be filing a lawsuit well in advance of that date.”