CORRECTION: This story originally incorrectly described state licensing for abortion clinics. Those clinics are licensed by the state Department of Community Health.
Macon-Bibb's Planning and Zoning board approved plans for a medical clinic that would perform abortions last week.
It would apparently be the only abortion provider in Central Georgia and the first in the region in decades.
A group of Macon churches plan a silent protest at noon Monday at the clinic, located at 833 Walnut Street.
"We knew we needed to mobilize and mobilize quickly," says organizer Ann Beall. "We were just horrified that this could happen so quietly and so quickly."
According to an agenda item from the Macon-Bibb County Planning and Zoning Commission, an Atlanta company named Summit Center PC planned to provide first trimester abortions only along with other women's health services.
"Macon has a lack of providers and women are having to travel quite far distances to access that care," says Summit Center executive director, Tanya Little. "We are committed to providing safe, dignified care. We trust women to make healthcare decisions that are best from themselves and their families."
But the protesters don't agree with Little.
"If a mother decides to kill her own child, she's not only killing her own child, she's killing her grandchildren and her great-grandchildren and her great-great-grandchildren," says protester Suzan Rivers.
"It is the invisible Holocaust. There are no groups that are more defenseless and pre-born babies," says protester Rinda Wilson.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, there were just over 30,000 abortions statewide in 2014 or about 82 a day, which gives Georgia the nation's 8th highest abortion rate.
Although the building is currently vacant, the site has been used as a medical office since 1957, according to their application.
Abortion clinics need licenses from the Georgia Department of Community Health, according to Michael Hokanson of the North Central Health District.
That board is part of the Georgia Department of Community Health.
The agency did not respond to WMAZ's questions Monday morning about whether the Summit Center has received a license for the Macon site.