Georgia Abortion Information Bill Moves Ahead, Breast Cancer Info Axed 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 17, 2005
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) — A bill that would require abortion businesses to tell women about the risks of and alternatives to abortion move ahead on Thursday. However, the bill was changed and a provision requiring information on the risk of contracting breast cancer from abortion was removed.
Sponsors of the bill also removed a provision allowing fathers and grandparents to sue an abortion practitioner if the abortion went awry. Some complained that it would allow rapists or family members committing incest to make a claim to the unborn child and that malpractice suits should be brought by the mother alone.
After making the changes, a state House committee approved the bill, sponsored by Republican Rep. Sue Burmeister of Augusta.
The bill now heads to the full House for a vote and a version in the Senate containing the removed provisions is scheduled for a vote on the Senate floor.
Earlier this month, members of the Senate Health and Human Services Committee backed Senate Bill 77, sponsored by Sen. Renee Unterman, a Republican, by a 5-1 vote.
Pro-life groups strongly support the bills, which require the information to be given to women 24 hours in advance of the abortion procedure.
Women would also be able to receive a brochure that describes the development of the unborn child. The information includes the probable gestational age and development of the mother’s unborn child and information on the pain an unborn child feels during an abortion.
The bills would also require that a parent or legal guardian be notified when a teenager seeks an abortion.
The legislation is patterned after legislation that, in other states, has reduced the number of abortions by one-third. Parental notification measures have reduced teen abortions by 30 percent or more.
Casey Grist of Suwanee, who had an abortion when she was 19, said she has had two miscarriages and two premature births since then. She indicated that the abortion business never told her of the possible medical risks associated with abortion.
"I’ve learned since that some of these complications could’ve been a result of abortion," Grist said, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution report.
A new poll shows that a strong majority of Georgia residents support the Woman’s Right to Know measure.
Conducted for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, about 60 percent of Georgia voters indicated they "strongly" or "somewhat" supported the legislation. Only 33 percent indicated they "strongly" or "somewhat" opposed the idea.
Related web sites:
Georgia Right to Life – https://www.grtl.org
Georgia State Legislature – https://www.legis.state.ga.us
