Georgia Senate OKs Bill to Stop Race-Based, Sex-Based, or Coerced Abortions
by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
March 26, 2010
Atlanta, GA (LifeNews.com) — The Georgia state Senate today approved a bill that would make it illegal to do an abortion when it is done because a baby is a certain race, gender, or because the mother was coerced into having one. Senator Chip Pearson was the sponsor of SB 529, which cleared the chamber on a 33-14 margin.
The Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act would apply to abortion "the same standards of nondiscrimination" that govern employment, education, government and housing, its sponsors say.
The bill provides enforcement of the existing law regarding the Women’s Right to Know and it gives women who have been coerced into having an abortion they don’t want the opportunity to bring suit against abortionists who violate Georgia law.
Catherine Davis, director of minority outreach at Georgia Right to Life, told LifeNews.com the bill is needed because abortions target black women.
"According to the CDC, of the 38 states that report, Georgia is currently leading the nation in abortions in the black community. African-Americans make up 30% of the population and 59% of the abortions," she said.
"In 2008, according to the Georgia Division of Health, 18,901 abortions were performed on black women. SB 529 seeks to protect these women and their children, from making decisions they did not want to make," Davis added.
Dan Becker, the president of Georgia Right to Life, talked about the importance of the legislation.
"No child should be aborted because of his or her race, sex, or color. If it’s wrong to discriminate in the workplace, in housing and in education because of race or sex, it should be wrong to discriminate against a child because she was born the wrong sex," he said.
The timeliness of this policy debate is evidenced by last week’s edition of The Economist magazine and its featured cover story, "Gendercide: What Happened to 100 Million Baby Girls?"
Four articles address the problem of gender selection abortions.
This bill now moves to the Georgia House, where a committee approved a similar bill earlier this month.
The House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee passed the bill out of committee on a 7-6 vote.
Earlier, Georgia Right to Life worked with the Radiance Foundation to promote billboards across Atlanta with the message "Black Children Are An Endangered Species" featuring a picture of a black baby.
Davis 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 the point that abortions target black women.
Related web sites:
Georgia Right to Life – https://www.grtl.org
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