That Bill in Georgia

[jennythereader]

I've been waiting to post about this until I saw a "just the facts" news story, but that doesn't seem to be happening. Rather than linking to a news story with any particular slant, I decided to just link directly to the bill.

This bill, under consideration in the Georgia General Assembly, would re-define abortion as "prenatal murder" and therefore make it illegal in the state of Georgia. I think it's a bad idea, but that's not actually what has me outraged.

What has me outraged is that section 2.14 seems to say that all miscarriages should be assumed to be induced (and therefore murder) until an investigation proves otherwise. I can't imagine what this would do to a family already dealing with the trauma of the loss of a desperately wanted baby.

NOTE: I do not want to get into an argument about abortion. I know what I believe, and you aren't going to change my mind. You know what you believe, and I doubt anyone is going to change your mind. I will freeze any and all threads that turn into arguments. I will ban commenters who continue to argue.

Comments

[jarien.livejournal.com]

Most states don't assume there's a crime committed if a victim of rape walks into an ER for treatment. There's no automatic assumption that the violence done is a crime. No automatic collection of evidence, so that prosecution can happen. No automatic calling of the police. Nope.

If the faceless "they" don't assume that violent assault is a crime, the faceless "they" can't assume that miscarriage is a crime either.

Rawr. Really think I should move to a deserted island somewhere.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

I knew some states were like that. Lovely.

[jarien.livejournal.com]

I was really excited a while back that there was a move to tie federal funding for hospitals to a requirement that hospitals make evidence collection kits more available and routine, and provide for storage of evidence in case a victim later does decide to prosecute... that's why this one sticks in my mind.

[dwarven-brewer.livejournal.com]

Oddly, NYS, isn't one of them. (NYS being so bassackwards in other areas as you might expect they would be) I can tell you EMS and Hospital personnel are trained in the proper care & treatment of the individual and collection of evidence in such cases. Ultimate prosecution, however, is another matter.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

I did know this. Oddly enough from watching an episode of one of the crime shows, and then I looked up the info to see if it rang true.

Does make me happy about NY though.

[purpura.livejournal.com]

Wait, they're not victims now, they're acusers.

Because women don't count; see above. I'm almost so upset over all this that I'm getting numb to it. Which is probably the response "they" want.

[jennythe-reader.livejournal.com]

The guy who proposed that particular change is the same one who is doing this bill.

Horrible person!