ACLU of GA
Dear ACLU of Georgia Supporter,
 
 

Anti-Choice members of the Georgia General Assembly have introduced HB 954, which seeks to ban all abortions at 20 weeks after conception unless the abortion is necessary to "avert the death of the pregnant woman or avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function...." There are no exceptions for the mental health of the woman, and there are no exceptions allowed in cases of rape or incest.

 

Sponsors of the bill admit that they are seeking to overturn Roe v. Wade (1973) and Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), which guarantee that women have the constitutional right to choose prior to viability (around 24 weeks). These anti-choice legislators are confident that they have the votes to pass this bill and impose an unconstitutional restriction on women's reproductive rights.

 

They have scheduled a hearing on this bill THIS Thursday, February 16, at 1 pm,

Room 506 in the Coverdell Legislative Office Building across the street from the Capitol. We hope that you will be able to attend the hearing but more importantly we hope that you will take a few minutes to contact your State Representative and State Senator to ask them to vote NO on HB 954. We also encourage you to contact members of the House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee and urge them to vote NO as well.

 

To find your Representative and Senator, please visit http://www.votesmart.org

 

To find the contact information for members of the House Judiciary (Non-Civil) Committee, please visit: http://www.house.ga.gov/committees/en-US/Committee.aspx?Committee=146&Session=21

 

Here are some suggested talking points:

 

Oppose HB 954 

 

Overview: House Bill 954 (HB 954) seeks to restrict abortions regardless of a woman's medical circumstances. Most women with high-risk pregnancies, who know that their own health or their fetuses are at risk, must have every medical option - including ending the pregnancy -to consider in consultation with medical professionals, religious advisers, family members, and other people they trust. And certainly, women and their families should not be forced to adhere to legislative directives that are based on unsound medical science or inaccurate clinical practice.

 

You Should Know:

*     Every woman's pregnancy is different. One size fits all legislation like HB 954 can cause harm to women and their families.

 

*     One of the most tragic things that can happen to a pregnant woman and her loved ones is to discover that something has gone terribly wrong with her pregnancy -- either a fatal condition or genetic fetal anomaly that will cause a serious impairment. Often nothing can be done to give this future baby a chance for a normal life - perhaps not even a chance for life itself.

 

*     HB 954 leaves no exception for serious fetal anomalies that would present during the middle weeks of a pregnancy. Most pregnant women undergo an anatomy scan ultrasound at approximately 20 weeks. Often, when a scan indicates a potential, serious complication, the physician may ask the woman to wait an additional week before returning for additional testing. Thus, in many instances, HB 954 would force families to make premature decisions regarding whether or not a pregnancy termination is necessary, as well as forcing a woman to carry a fetus to term in cases where there are serious physical deformities, injuries or a fatal condition.  

 

*     Later abortions are rare. Nationally, less than 1.4% of abortions occur past 20 weeks.

 

*     It is vital that physicians have the ability to protect their patient's health by providing an abortion when medically appropriate. For example, if a woman is diagnosed with cancer during pregnancy, or becomes pregnant while she has cancer, she must have an abortion in order to receive life-saving cancer treatment. Women can also experience health conditions related to the pregnancy itself, such as preeclampsia or high blood pressure, conditions that could threaten her health.

 

*     HB 954 eliminates the ability of physicians to consider a woman's mental health or illness and the potential that she may commit suicide and/or self-inflict "substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function" in deciding whether or not a termination is medically appropriate. Physicians should be able to use their judgment in such circumstances and the act should include an exception that covers mental health.

 

*     HB 954 contains no exception for rape or incest.

 

*     Passage of HB 954 would require a fiscal note and revenue budgeted in order to fulfill the reporting requirements of the bill. HB 954 requires the Department of Community Health to collect substantial data from physicians who perform abortions and to issue a public report providing statistics from all the reports from the previous calendar year. Such requirements will affect more than obstetricians, gynecologists and peri-natalogists, as emergency room doctors will also be burdened.

 

*     HB 954 does not require protection of the identity of the physicians, who performed or attempted to perform the abortions, in the public report to be published by the Department of Community Health. There are a number of cases of murder and violence against physicians who perform legal abortions in the U.S. This would place OB/GYN's and Emergency Room Physicians in Georgia at serious personal risk when complying with HB 954.

 

*     There is no "substantial medical evidence" that fetuses are capable of feeling pain as indicated in the findings of HB 954. The prevailing scientific understanding, endorsed by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, is that the capacity for functional pain perception may begin around week 29-30-well into the third trimester. The word "may" is used as there is increasing evidence that the fetus remains in continuous sleep-like unconsciousness or sedation while in-utero, suggesting that amniotic fluid may act as analgesia throughout the pregnancy.

 

*     HB 954 is unconstitutional because it fails to adequately protect women's health. HB 954 allows abortions after 20 weeks gestation only when the physician determines that "in reasonable medical judgment that an abortion is necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman or avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman." This health exception is completely inadequate. The Supreme Court repeatedly required an exception for circumstances when abortion "is necessary, in appropriate medical judgment, for the preservation of the life or health" of the woman.

 

 

 

Chad Brock

Lobbyist

ACLU of Georgia

1900 The Exchange, Suite 425

Atlanta, GA 30339

Phone: 770-303-8111; Fax: 770-303-0060

[email protected]

www.acluga.org

  
ACLU of Georgia