ATLANTA (WCTV Eyewitness News) – A Georgia Senate panel has approved legislation that would reduce the punishment for possessing small amounts of marijuana.

The Senate Judiciary Committee voted Monday to advance the bill sponsored by Sen. Harold Jones II, a Democrat from Augusta.

Under the legislation, possession of up to two ounces of marijuana would be punishable as a misdemeanor rather than a felony as is currently the case. The bill goes next to the Senate Rules Committee.

Separately, the Senate Health and Human Services Committee reversed course on an abortion bill.

The bill would have required abortion providers to give women information about potentially stopping drug-induced abortions midway through the procedure.

The committee chairwoman decided to pull the proposal after reviewing a court decision in Arizona that found a similar bill to be unconstitutional.