Birth control medications will be provided at pharmacies across Georgia without needing a prescription, according to a bill that won final approval from the General Assembly on Thursday.
Lawmakers said the bill makes contraceptives more available to women, especially in the 82 of Georgia’s 159 counties without an obstetrician.
“We talk a lot about prevention and improving outcomes for women’s health, and this is a way to do this without a mandate,” said Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta.
The legislation, House Bill 1138, authorizes licensed pharmacists to dispense a three-month supply of birth control medication the first time a patient obtains the drug, and up to a 12-month supply afterward. Pharmacists aren’t required to dispense birth control if they choose not to.
Child sexual abuse survivors protected from forced silence
Victims of childhood sexual abuse can’t be silenced by nondisclosure agreements in legal settlements, according to a bill that cleared the Georgia General Assembly on Thursday.
The Senate voted unanimously to approve the bill, which is called Trey’s Law in memory of Trey Carlock, a former Atlanta-area resident who was sexually abused at a Missouri camp along with other victims.
Carlock settled a lawsuit against the camp, but a nondisclosure agreement prevented him from talking about what happened to him.
“These NDAs silence survivors or sexual abuse in civil settlement agreements and force victims to choose between compensation and their voice,” said Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, R-Marietta. “The purpose of the law is so that survivors can speak openly about the abuse that they suffered.”
The bill makes lawsuit settlements unenforceable if they require secrecy about childhood sexual abuse.
Gov. Brian Kemp said during his State of the State address that Trey’s Law is a priority of First Lady Marty Kemp and the Georgians for Refuge, Action, Compassion, and Education Commission, which was created to combat human trafficking.
Cash purchases to be rounded as pennies disappear
You could soon leave pennies at home when you go shopping in Georgia.
The Georgia House gave final approval to a bill Thursday that rounds in-person cash transactions to the nearest nickel.
The change is a response to the Trump administration’s decision last year to stop making new pennies, which will lead to their gradual disappearance from circulation.
The legislation calls for Georgia businesses to round down transactions that end in a 1, 2, 6, or 7. Prices that end in a 3, 4, 8, or 9 would be rounded up. And items with costs that end exactly in a 0 or 5 would stay the same.
The rounding requirement applies to in-person purchases made with cash. Transactions with credit cards wouldn’t need to be rounded.
The three measures now head to Kemp's desk for his signature or veto.
