Georgia Bill Banning Race-Based, Sex-Based Abortions Draws National Attention
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 10, 2010
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) — Following up on a billboard campaign throughout Atlanta saying there are too many abortions done on black unborn babies, a statewide pro-life group is getting national attention for a bill it is supporting in the state legislature that would ban abortions done specifically because the child is African-American.
Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican who introduced the bill last month with the support of both parties, says the bill is meant to target discrimination.
The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act would apply to abortion "the same standards of nondiscrimination" that govern employment, education, government and housing, he says.
The measure is getting a hearing today in the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee but also drawing nationwide attention and news stories from several media outlets.
Earlier, Georgia Right to Life worked with the Radiance Foundation to promote billboards with the message "Black Children Are An Endangered Species" featuring a picture of a black baby.
"We are not demonizing black women," Catherine Davis, director of minority outreach for Georgia Right to Life, told CNN last week. "What we are saying is that the abortion industry has targeted, specifically, the black community."
She said the goal with the billboards and the bill is to "alert the community and awaken the community."
HB 1155 does more than just protecting black unborn children from race-based abortions.
It would make it a crime to attempt to coerce a woman to have an abortion based on the race or sex of the unborn child and would prevent abortion practitioners from knowingly doing race-based or gender-based abortions.
"Pregnant women targeted for criminal solicitation of abortion would not be criminally or civilly liable. Victims of violations could recover all damages available under state tort law, as well as damages for the homicide of an unborn child," Georgia Right to Life informed LifeNews.com about the bill. "Systemic violations of abortion laws could be prosecuted under the corrupt organization statute and harmed individuals would have a private cause of action."
"It is inconceivable that even a pro-abortion proponent would want to support abortions on the basis of race, sex or color. However, it is common knowledge that such abortions are occurring every year in the state of Georgia and it is imperative that they be banned," the group said.
Statistics from the federal government and the mainstream media appear to back up Franks’ point that abortions target black women.
According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control, while black women represent 12.5% of American females they have 38.2% of all abortions, according to the authors.
The rate is so high that ABC News recently focused on it during a news feature.
Related web sites:
Georgia Right to Life
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