Georgia Committee Passes Pro-Life Bill Targeting Racist and Sexist Abortions
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 12, 2010
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) — A Georgia state House committee approved a bill on Wednesday that would ban abortions done specifically because the child is African-American. HB 1155 would also make it a crime to attempt to coerce a woman to have an abortion based on the race or sex of the unborn child.
It would also prevent abortion practitioners from knowingly doing race-based or gender-based abortions.
On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed the bill out of committee on a 7-6 vote.
After a number of attempts to amend the legislation failed, the committee was asked to vote on a “motion to table” the bill. The committee was evenly split on the vote enabling Chairman Rich Golick to vote in our favor and thereby defeating the motion.
"Hundreds of hours have been put into the crafting of this legislation, using some of the top pro-life attorneys around the country and within the state," Mike Griffin, the legislative director of Georgia Right to Life, told LifeNews.com.
"There is no doubt that this bill will protect women from coercion, from gender selection and race based abortions, while ensuring that it mirrors other non-discrimination laws in this state," he said.
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.
"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.
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."
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.
According to Georgia Right to Life, the committee vote broke down as follows:
The following voted FOR: R Charlice Byrd 28th,R Tom Knox 24th,R Matt Ramsey 72nd, R Melvin Everson 106th, R Doug Collins 27th, R Ed Setzler 35th, and R Mark Hatfield 177th.
The following voted AGAINST: D Roberta Abdul-Salaam 74th, D Lee Thompson 104th, D Stacey Abrams 84th, D Nikki Randall 138th, D Stephanie Benfield 85th, R Bobby Franklin 43nd.
The following were present, but did NOT vote: D Randal Mangham 94th, R Sharon Cooper 41st.
Related web sites:
Georgia Right to Life
Sign Up for Free Pro-Life News From LifeNews.com
Daily Pro-Life News Report Twice-Weekly Pro-Life
News Report Receive a free daily email report from LifeNews.com with the latest pro-life news stories on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here. Receive a free twice-weekly email report with the latest pro-life news headlines on abortion, euthanasia and stem cell research. Sign up here.
