Georgia Pro-Life Group Proposes Bill Challenging Roe Abortion Ruling

State   |   Steven Ertelt   |   Mar 21, 2007   |   9:00AM   |   WASHINGTON, DC

Georgia Pro-Life Group Proposes Bill Challenging Roe Abortion Ruling Email this article
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 21
, 2007

Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) — The state’s leading pro-life group is working to introduce a new bill in the Georgia state legislature that would establish the personhood of an unborn child from fertilization until natural death. They say it would be a direct challenge to the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade ruling allowing virtually unlimited abortions.

The bill defines the "paramount" right to life and says "The rights of every person shall be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life."

In a statement sent to LifeNews.com, Georgia Right to Life says the Thomas More Law Center, a pro-life law firm, provided it with the language for the bill.

Caryl Swift, president of the group, said GRTL thinks it’s time for the state constitution to recognize the rights of the unborn.

"When is a person a ‘person’ under the laws of our State and therefore entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution?" she asked.

The bill is a constitutional amendment, which requires a two-thirds vote in both the state House and Senate and approval by state voters.

Swift said Georgia residents should decide the personhood questions and hopes to be able to get the measure on the 2008 ballot.

"Let’s let Georgians decide not the state Supreme Court. I commend this bi-partisan effort to protect all of Georgia’s citizens all the time," she told LifeNews.com.

Daniel Becker, the group’s vice president, said the bill "will be the centerpiece of our legislative efforts in the 2008 legislative session."

"Two important pro-life objectives would be effected by this amendment to our state constitution," he said. "It establishes and affirms in principal that Georgia is a ‘pro-life’ state that seeks to protect all human life from fertilization as a matter of constitutional law; and it provides a direct challenge to the central holding of Roe v. Wade."

Becker says "the personhood of the pre-born child is the single point on which the entire debate turns."

Related web sites:
Georgia Right to Life – https://www.grtl.org