Georgia Democrats have introduced legislation that would repeal the state’s current law protecting preborn children after a fetal heartbeat is detected and radically expand abortion in the state.
Members of both the House and the Senate introduced House Bill 75 and Senate Bill 15, identical bills known as the Reproductive Freedom Act. In addition to the repeal of the state’s heartbeat law, the legislation calls for the classification of abortion as a fundamental right, the redefinition of personhood from the moment of conception to the moment of birth, and the ability for unemancipated minors to get an abortion without parental consent. The bill would also repeal a law requiring that only medical doctors can commit abortions and it would require state insurance companies and Medicaid to provide abortion coverage.
“Seventy percent of Georgia wants abortion access. We are here to demand that this is what we want as a vision for the future of abortion care in this state,” said State Rep. Shea Roberts, who co-sponsored the legislation. But recent national polling has continued to show that while a majority of Americans wish for abortion to remain legal, they also support significant limits on the procedure, with 69% supporting restricting abortion well before six months (first trimester, cases of rape/incest/life of the mother, or making it illegal altogether). Notably, 44% (the majority of that 69%) would restrict abortion to the “exceptions” only or make it illegal altogether. Nearly 80% of Americans oppose unrestricted abortion — and unrestricted abortion is what these Georgia bills propose.
“It is not the state’s job to determine if a woman intentionally caused her miscarriage, or to investigate a doctor who may have performed an abortion to save a mother’s life, or to force people to subscribe to one particular religious view on when life begins,” added Sen. Sally Harrell, the bill’s Senate sponsor. “It is the government’s job to protect Georgians’ rights to privacy, dignity, and personal belief.”
However, as Live Action News has previously shown, the determination of when life begins is not a religious one, but a scientific one. Scientific evidence has repeatedly and consistently shown that life begins at fertilization. At that moment, a new and distinct human organism is formed. And as a new life, that preborn child has the unalienable right to life. The mother’s rights to privacy and personal belief do not give her the right to take away her child’s life, as there is never a legitimate right to kill an innocent human being.
According to the Statesboro Herald, there is little chance of the legislation passing the Senate, where Republicans hold a 33-23 majority.
