Georgia Senate OKs Bill to Make Doctors Report Abortions on Teens Without Parents’ Consent

State   |   Conor Beck   |   Mar 15, 2016   |   3:32PM   |   Atlanta, GA

The Georgia Senate voted on Monday to expand requirements for doctors to report on abortions performed on girls ages 17 and younger.

The new bill, House Bill 555, mandates “all doctors, including those in private practice, to report on abortions they perform” to girls 17 in under, according to Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Currently, this type of documentation is only done by health facilities licensed as abortion facilities by the state, according to the report.

“We want to ensure we’re receiving accurate facts about Georgia’s young women and their health decisions,” previously said state Rep. Joyce Chandler, who sponsored the bill.

The state Senate added a new amendment to House Bill 555 that would require all doctors who perform abortions to report them to the state, not just those who work at abortion facilities, according to the report.

The Journal-Constitution reports more about what happened on the Senate floor:

State health officials are already required to keep track of those numbers, but Chandler has said the additional reporting mandate in the bill would help the state keep more accurate records. Chandler originally wanted the annual report completed by Feb. 28, but the Senate Health and Human Services Committee changed that date to March 15.

But during the Senate’s floor debate, however, GOP lawmakers made an additional change, expanding state law that requires reporting only be done by health facilities licensed as abortion clinics by the state. The change would mandate all doctors, including those in private practice, to report on abortions they perform.

Follow LifeNews.com on Instagram for pro-life pictures and the latest pro-life news.

State Sen. Bruce Thompson, R-White, called that additional requirement a “holistic approach…toward knowing what’s happening in the state.” He said the state still would not require other personal information such as women’s names to be reported.

That answer was met with derision by many of the chamber’s Democrats, who opposed the change. “Should we ask doctors to report how many vasectomies they perform?” asked state Sen. Nan Orrock, D-Atlanta.

Abortions on teenage girls without parental consent are controversial. Abortion activists consider abortion to be a procedure requiring enough maturity to fully comprehend. However, many pro-life advocates stress that teens using a tanning bed need parental consent, but teens getting abortion in many states do not need to inform their parents.

State Sen. Bruce Thompson called the additional requirement a “holistic approach…toward knowing what’s happening in the state.”

The bill now goes to the state House for review.

motherdaughter5