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Georgia Abortion Legislation Advances, Pre-Birth Images Would Be Required Before Killing Begins

Pics Required Before Killing Begins

Editor's note: The Nazis also took pictures before killing Jews.

Few lawmakers and political insiders predicted abortion would be a hot topic during the General Assembly this year, but opponents of the procedure are pushing several bills that could become law this year.

This week, a Senate committee approved Senate Bill 429, a measure sponsored by Sen. Nancy Schaefer (R-Turnerville) that would require abortion providers to perform a sonogram or ultrasound on women seeking abortion, then give them a choice about whether to view the images. The committee approved an exception for women whose pregnancy was the result or rape or incest.

The committee also gave the green light to Senate Bill 77, a measure that would allow for the prosecution of anyone who causes the death of an unborn child, regardless of the stage of pregnancy. Sen. Renee Unterman (R-Buford), the bill's sponsor, said she wants to change Georgia's current law, which defines feticide as the killing of an unborn child that has reached "quickening," usually around the 20th week of pregnancy.

Kevin Harris, a lobbyist with Georgia Right to Life, said that earlier in this legislative session, the anti-abortion organization was less confident about the chances of SB 429. Now, however, Harris said he believes the measure could clear both the House and Senate.

"To keep a Republican majority in power, it'll take the pro-life movement to make sure both groups — conservative Republicans and the pro-life movement — have success," Harris said.

He argues that SB 77 would help district attorneys, prosecutors, and domestic violence advocates do their job more effectively. The "Unborn Victims of Violence Act" would expand in Georgia a measure signed into law by President Bush in 2004 that makes it a separate federal crime to harm a fetus during an assault on the mother, Harris said.

He also said some research studies show that 65 to 75 percent of pregnant women who view sonograms before deciding about an abortion decide to carry out their pregnancies.

Senate Majority Leader Tommie Williams (R-Lyons) said the feticide bill has enough votes to pass the Senate, and that the sonogram bill also may pass muster.

Georgia's is one of several legislatures considering abortion restrictions this year. The South Dakota Senate this week passed the nation's most far-reaching ban on abortion. The measure would make it a felony for doctors to perform any abortion except to save the life of a pregnant woman. The bill must gain final approval from the House before it can be signed into law by the governor, who is opposed to abortion. A lawsuit is expected challenging the law's constitutionality under the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision.

In Georgia, anti-abortion forces are building on their momentum from last year, when they successfully championed a bill requiring women seeking an abortion to wait 24 hours after receiving state-mandated information on the risks and alternatives before having the procedure. The measure became law in July.

"They're clearly not finished punishing and humiliating women while at the same time failing to promote and sometimes even impeding access to prevention programs and medication for women," said Leola Reis, spokeswoman for Planned Parenthood of Georgia.

Reis said that requiring women seeking an abortion to undergo a sonogram interferes with the doctor-patient relationship, and she argued that lawmakers consider bills that focus on the health and safety of women rather than a measure such as SB 77.

Critics of the measure contend it will not offer women more protection from crime and is a covert way for anti-abortion groups to chip away at abortion rights by granting more rights to a fetus.

Both Planned Parenthood and Georgia Right to Life also are closely watching two other bills related to abortion and birth control. The Senate health committee on Wednesday cleared Senate Bill 123 by Sen. Jim Whitehead Sr. (R-Evans) that would protect from disciplinary action pharmacists who refuse to dispense medication that terminates a pregnancy. Planned Parenthood and other groups said the bill would not affect emergency contraception such as Plan B.

However, Rep. James Mills (R-Gainesville) introduced on Thursday House Bill 1445, a similar measure with more vague language. Abortion-rights supporters say they are concerned the bill could make it more difficult for women to obtain emergency contraception such as Plan B from pharmacists.

Georgia Right to Life lobbyist Harris called the House bill more "effective," while Reis of Planned Parenthood said the measure could restrict women's access to drugs that prevent unwanted pregnancies and reduce abortion.


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metro/stories/0225legabortion.html

Posted by Editor at February 25, 2006 08:03 PM