Tim Walz emphasized abortion policy during Macon visit. How could it impact the election?

Abortion remains a hot issue in Georgia after Tim Walz's visit to Macon Tuesday.

Walz, who is the governor of Minnesota and Kamala Harris' running mate, emphasized abortion as a major issue during a visit to the Macon-Bibb County Democrats' headquarters.

"It's going to be neighbor to neighbor, doorknock to doorknock," Walz said. "Do you like the (policy) where women die because they can't get health care that they should be able to get if they need reproductive care?"

His remarks follow Kamala Harris releasing a statement Tuesday morning discussing a report by ProPublica , a nonprofit investigative outlet, that made waves in the abortion debate across the nation. The report details the story of a woman who died in Georgia after not being able to receive an abortion.

ProPublica confirmed it found at least one other case of a woman dying in Georgia after not being able to access a legal abortion.

"Women are bleeding out in parking lots, turned away from emergency rooms, losing their ability to ever have children again. Survivors of rape and incest are being told they cannot make decisions about what happens next to their bodies. And now women are dying," Harris said. "These are the consequences of (former President) Donald Trump's actions."

Abortion can be a touchy subject in Georgia — which has historically leaned Republican — but this cycle, democrats have leaned into it, and believe it could be the key to victory.

Abortion has been a big issue in Georgia for years

For Georgia, this election cycle isn't the first time abortion has become a flashpoint.

In 2019, Georgia passed a bill that banned abortion at six weeks, when fetal cardiac activity can first be detected. The legislation sparked outrage in Georgia and beyond, and a federal judge overturned the law about a year after its passage, citing Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that protected abortion rights.

However, in June 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in a new ruling, Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, and said individual states can decide whether or not abortion is legal. Georgia's six-week abortion ban was reinstated.

Abortion rights advocates were outraged, and since then abortion has featured as a major talking point in multiple state and federal election cycles.

Why is abortion so important for the Harris campaign?

Harris has placed abortion rights at the center of her campaign, especially in Georgia. Earlier this month, the Harris campaign held an event focused on abortion with politicians, activists and personalities stumping for her on the issue.

Julia Callahan, co-founder of Middle Georgia 4 Choice who was involved with Walz's visit and the Harris campaign event earlier this month, said abortion is a topic many women feel passionately about.

Callahan credits an abortion for saving her life. She was pregnant with twins in 2022, shortly after Roe v. Wade was overturned, when she miscarried one of the fetuses. However, the fetus did not expel properly, leaving tissue inside her body.

Her doctors held off on operating on her out of fear of harming the remaining viable fetus, but Callahan continued to become more ill. After a month of non-stop vomiting and excruciating pain, doctors finally gave her medication to abort the nonviable fetus.

"I can understand people's perception of thinking that abortions are (only) elective procedures, but they're not," Callahan said. "I really didn't understand it until I ended up being one of the women who was turned away from an emergency room in search of care for my miscarriage, and I almost died during that experience."

According to data from the Pew Research Center, 64% of women believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases. Those same numbers also show the percentage of Americans who believe abortion should be legal in all or most cases is rising in the years following the Dobbs decision.

How did Georgia end up at the center of this debate?

Callahan said Georgia is unique because its abortion ban compounds multiple issues.

Georgia has one of the highest rates of maternal mortality in the nation, with 33.9 deaths per 100,000 live births between 2018 and 2021, according to a report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The national average between those years was 32.9 deaths per 100,000 live births.

Callahan said Georgia's abortion ban makes it harder for women, particularly women of color, to access lifesaving care, and may risk exacerbating Georgia's maternal mortality crisis.

"We're one of the worst in the nation when it comes to our mothers surviving childbirth and pregnancy," Callahan said. "With Georgia being such an epicenter of women experiencing the effects of the six week abortion ban, it's important we discuss it here."

Researchers at Tulane University's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine found in 2021 that states with more abortion restrictions had higher rates of maternal mortality.

During his visit, Walz said Georgia also carries an immense amount of electoral power.

"It's going to be a close race, likely down to a few states," Walz said. "Georgia's probably the center of that."

Georgia, which traditionally voted for Republicans in elections past, flipped for President Joe Biden in 2020 and helped him secure the White House. The race between Harris and Trump is a dead heat in Georgia.

Abortion has already shaped other elections in the state. A nonpartisan race for a state supreme court seat drew enormous amount of attention when former Democratic Rep. John Barrow challenged incumbent Andrew Pinson. Pinson was appointed to the court by Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, who championed the six-week abortion ban.

Barrow focused his bid on abortion rights, and while he ultimately lost, drew attention and turnout that's rare in nonpartisan judicial races.

By capitalizing on abortion rights, Democratic politicians, activists and supporters are optimistic they can turn Georgia blue once again.

"Without those conversations, we really, as a community, cannot heal and have the conversations where we find common ground," Callahan said. "And that's what really matters to Americans, it's people receiving health care and getting what they need."