Georgia House panel approves anti-abortion 'heartbeat' bill
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
Georgia House panel approves anti-abortion 'heartbeat' bill
SANYA MANSOOR and BEN NADLER, Associated Press 11 hours ago
FILE - In this Feb. 13, 2018 file photo, Rep. Ed Setzler presents his bill to the Governmental Affairs Special Subcommittee in Atlanta. Amid tears, gasps and handshakes, a Georgia House committee has approved legislation that would outlaw abortion after a heartbeat can be detected. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP, File)ATLANTA (AP) — Amid tears, gasps and handshakes, a Georgia House committee approved legislation Wednesday to outlaw abortion after a fetus' heartbeat can be detected, which is before many women know they are pregnant.
Women in Georgia can currently seek an abortion up to 20 weeks of a pregnancy. A heartbeat is generally detectable by medical professionals at around 6 weeks.
The bill comes as abortion opponents across the country are hopeful the high court — with new Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh — will either reverse Roe v. Wade, or uphold specific state laws that could undermine the court's 1973 ruling establishing a nationwide right to abortion.
Wednesday's hearing was tense and emotional with several outbursts slowing proceedings and activists and citizens moved to tears on both sides of the issue.
The House Health and Human Services Committee approved the anti-abortion measure on a party-line vote of 17 to 14. Thirteen Republican men and four Republican women voted for it. Seven Democratic men and seven Democratic women voted against.
The committee approval means the bill could soon move to a vote before the full House, but timing is tight.
Thursday marks a Georgia legislative deadline by which a bill must generally pass one chamber or the other.
Gov. Brian Kemp pledged during his recent campaign for governor to sign the "toughest abortion laws in the country." Kemp's campaign website says he supports "a 'Heartbeat Bill' that outlaws abortions after six weeks."
The bill makes exceptions in the case of rape and incest, but only if the woman files a police report. It also would allow exceptions if the pregnancy places a mother's life at risk.
The chairman of the committee, Rep. Sharon Cooper, introduced an amendment that passed which also makes an exception in the case of a "medically futile" pregnancy — cases in which a fetus is deemed not compatible with life.
"We know life begins at conception. I think that's worthy of full legal protection," said the bill's author, Rep. Ed Setzler. "Certainly we can come together and recognize if there's a human heartbeat, that child's worthy of protection."
Critics of the bill said it would jeopardize women's health, lead to unsafe self-induced abortions and worsen the obstetrician shortage in Georgia.
Democrats tried several times, unsuccessfully, to table the measure Wednesday. Republicans, growing exasperated by delays, tried several times to force a vote.
A group of mostly female lawmakers and health care advocates and professionals lined up to speak against the bill.
Democratic Rep. Park Cannon of Atlanta was among two lawmakers who testified about their own abortion experiences. Cannon said she remains confident in her decision to get an abortion after she was sexually assaulted in 2010.
With tensions running high, Democratic Rep. Kim Schofield of Atlanta asked Setzler at one point: "How many times have you actually carried a baby?"
Setzler talked about his wife's experience with pregnancy, including miscarriages they suffered.
Dr. Melissa Kottke, who is on the advisory board of Georgia's OB-GYN Society, voiced worries the bill would deter obstetricians from practicing in a state that has a shortage of OB-GYNs.
"It's extremely dangerous for lawmakers to presume that they're better equipped than women and their health care providers to judge what is appropriate medical care," Kottke said.
Dr. Kathy Altman, a retired OB-GYN who briefly worked as a medical director for Planned Parenthood in Florida in the 1980s, testified in favor of the bill. Altman, who once supported abortion but later had what she called a change of heart, spoke about an abortion she said she now regrets having.
"I wish there had been a heartbeat bill back then," Altman said.
Said Altman, "We have convinced young women that an unplanned pregnancy is the worst thing that can happen to them and their right to reproductive freedom is more important than their baby's right to live."
One woman testified in favor of the bill, saying that she gave birth to a child conceived from rape, even though her doctor suggested she have an abortion. "My child is not the child of a rapist. She is the child of a rape survivor," said Heather Hobbs with Save the 1, a pro-life advocacy organization for women who give birth after being raped.
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Thanks you inbred fucks in Alabama. Taking women back to back alley abortions.
I meant Georgia. SORRY!
Democrats tried several times, unsuccessfully, to table the measure Wednesday. Republicans, growing exasperated by delays, tried several times to force a vote.
A group of mostly female lawmakers and health care advocates and professionals lined up to speak against the bill.
Democratic Rep. Park Cannon of Atlanta was among two lawmakers who testified about their own abortion experiences. Cannon said she remains confident in her decision to get an abortion after she was sexually assaulted in 2010.
With tensions running high, Democratic Rep. Kim Schofield of Atlanta asked Setzler at one point: "How many times have you actually carried a baby?"
Setzler talked about his wife's experience with pregnancy, including miscarriages they suffered.
Dr. Melissa Kottke, who is on the advisory board of Georgia's OB-GYN Society, voiced worries the bill would deter obstetricians from practicing in a state that has a shortage of OB-GYNs.
"It's extremely dangerous for lawmakers to presume that they're better equipped than women and their health care providers to judge what is appropriate medical care," Kottke said.
"Altman, who once supported abortion but later had what she called a change of heart, spoke about an abortion she said she now regrets having.
"I wish there had been a heartbeat bill back then," Altman said.
"I wish the government had taken away my choice and forced me to have that child back then because I'm sure everything would have been roses!...". What a crock of shit.
"Setzler talked about his wife's experience with pregnancy, including miscarriages they suffered."
"Because my family and I went through some tough times trying to have kids, I have to take away every other woman's choice in my State because singular anecdotal accounts should be applied broadly to all people. I have enough Christian values to share with everyone in my State so I can make sure they aren't offending my God by terminating little invisible immortal souls".
In their indoctrinated minds miscarriages are God's choice and you can't take Gods choice away, but you can take women's choice away, even though the woman is the only entity we know exists.
Yup, Altman is full of shit.
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She's full of shit, it was there for her but now she wants to deny other women what she had done herself. She is a selfish see you next tuesday. I loathe that word but it fits any woman that had an abortion but now wants to deny other women the choice to have one.
Anti women fucktards. The southern states war on women continues.
Welcome to America, where some want to stop abortions six weeks in and some are okay with killing healthy breathing babies outside the womb. Ain't it great?
I haven't done the research yet but I believe there are several states that have passed these heart-beat laws and I believe that all of them have been shot down by the courts as unconstitutional. IMO, these laws are as stupid as the abortion laws in Virginia and NY which seem to remove almost all limits on it.
They shouldn't have let it pass in Georgia. It is unconstitutional.
They have not removed all limits on abortion in Virginia and NY. I believe you have been misled.
Arkansas passed one of these fetal heartbeat bills but it got shot down by the courts
Now they're fixing to pass a bill that won't allow abortions after 18 weeks
Actually I believe they did pass the law & it was signed in NY. You are correct with Virginia, that bill passed the house but appears to have died in committee in the senate.
But this has nothing to do with this seed except to show that both sides will pass bills that go too far. I don't expect it to be too long before this GA bill goes to the courts and is stopped.
With all the problems in this world, it saddens me that we have legislators who will waste time and money for this when they know in advance that the courts will not allow it to stay. I really wish that government would stop trying to legislate people's lives and get down to what they are really supposed to be doing. But they (and you have to admit, both sides) are more interested in playing to their base and raising money for their next election. sigh...
I disagree regarding both sides. Moving along now.
and of course you have incontrovertible proof of that, not just conjecture , right?
Again, where is the proof? Are you suggesting that having a law making something illegal is proof that there is a problem?
Bush signed the first 'born alive abortion survivors act of 2002'.
From the Justice Departments own investigations in 2013, no one was ever prosecuted under the law from 2003 to 2013.
The 2019 Amendment added tort protection for the mother, should she later decide to sue the doctors or hospital, and more punitive punishment for any medical professionals who participate or even fail to report such a crime.
The bottom line, is that once there is alive birth of a healthy survival newborn, a whole differrent set of laws kick in for everyone involved.
If the mother is unwilling to take the child, A perinatal social worker will remove the child and start the processes to make the child a ward of the state,
eligible for immediate adoption.
Speaking of useless laws.
It is illegal to build, maintain, or use a nuclear weapon within Chico, California city limits. A law that began in the ‘80s as a serious anti-nuke statement has taken on a second life as an Internet joke, mainly due to the purported consequences: In addition to self-annihilation, the infraction also carries a $500 fine.
Good to know. I won't take my take my nuke to Chico, CA
Looks like Ralph Northam didn't get the memo when he said this:
"If a mother is in labor, I can tell you exactly what would happen. The infant would be delivered. The infant would be kept comfortable. The infant would be resuscitated if that's what the mother and the family desired. And then a discussion would ensue between the physicians and the mother."
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It is true that blackface Northam was responding to the context of the conversation at hand and his comments were easily taken out of context.
Doesn't matter how many times you dispute their lies SP. They continually post the refuted lies.
It doesn't matter how often the proabortionist agenda is proven, baby killers will keep killing.
More disingenuous nonsense I see. What "agenda" would that be.
You must be confused. Baby killing is illegal. The issue here is abortion.
Like whom? Where is this allowed?
Even if this passes the House we all know there will be an injunction against it coming into effect immediately. This will be followed by an expensive, time consuming judicial process which will shoot down the law. Just another example of politicians spinning their wheels doing nothing except wasting taxpayer dollars
'Just another example of politicians spinning their wheels doing nothing except wasting taxpayer dollars'
And pandering to the morons
Sigh. Just more time and money wasted.