The basic story
The actual bill
This poor excuse for a bill cropped up last year in Utah, and is currently making anyone with half a brain say "eh?" in Georgia. Now, granted, this bill is so far out there, that it will never even make it to committee, and therefore would have a snowball's chance in hell of passing, but this is a great reason why Republicans (and religious people in positions of power) scare the crap outta of me. I want to know, what redneck in my state voted for
I'm sure that the primary reason for this bill is to appease all the religious and right wing wackadoodles who sponsored this guy's campaign to think "Yeah! He's fighting for a cause we believe in! I'm going to send him more money!"
Some highlights of the bill:
"The act of prenatal murder has caused a significant reduction in the number of 104 citizens in this state who would serve as workers, entrepreneurs, teachers, employees, and 105 employers who would have significantly contributed to the prosperity and continuation 106 of this state."
Yes, I'm sure that my son would have made a great teacher or doctor someday. The fact that he didn't have any skull bones, and that part of his brain was missing shouldn’t stop him from becoming a productive member of society. Actually, he probably would have done well by becoming a conservative politician, as it appears that he would have fit in quite well with the "half a brain" crowd.
"To amend the Official Code of Georgia Annotated so as to provide that prenatal murder shall be unlawful in all events....Prenatal murder means the intentional removal of a fetus from a woman with an intention other than to produce a live birth or remove a dead fetus; provided, however, that if a physician makes a medically justified effort to save the lives of both the mother and the fetus and the fetus does not survive, such action shall not be prenatal murder."
So anyone who had the removal of an ectopic pregnancy is now a criminal (the removal of the live baby from the tube isn't saving the baby). Lovely. Anyone who chose to end a terminal pregnancy (much cheaper than continuing the pregnancy and giving birth, BTW) is a criminal. Fantastic. Should I choose my jail cell now, or later?
"Any person committing prenatal murder in this state shall be guilty of a felony and, 124 upon conviction, shall be punished as provided in subsection (d) of Code Section 16-5-1."
Every other month, I get an email from our Compliance Department reminding me that if I have any new misdemeanors or felonies to report to FINRA, I need to update my U4 form. I look forward to letting my Compliance Department know exactly what is going on with my uterus.
"Such term does not include a naturally occurring expulsion of a fetus known medically as a 'spontaneous abortion' and popularly as a 'miscarriage' as long as there is no human involvement whatsoever in the causation of such event.....A report of spontaneous fetal death for each spontaneous fetal death which occurs in this state shall be filed with the local registrar of the county in which the delivery occurred within 72 hour of such delivery [...] Preparation and filing of reports of spontaneous fetal death shall be as follows: [...] When a spontaneous fetal death required to by reported by this Code section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery or when inquiry is required by Article 2 of Chapter 16 of Title 45, the 'Georgia Death Investigation Act,' the proper investigating official shall investigate the cause of fetal death and shall prepare and file the report within 30 days..."
Deerrrrr....it's pretty hard to prove if the woman "caused" her miscarriage or not. That beer that she had? Maybe she shouldn't have gone horseback riding. Maybe she got out of bed wrong. Maybe she didn't take her prenatal vitamin. That CAT scan she got the day before she found out she was pregnant? All possible "causations". The best part? How many tax dollars will be set aside for investigating if the woman played any part in her miscarriage within 30 days of occurrence? Way to be financially conservative, conservative.
"Any person having any knowledge or facts concerning any birth, death, spontaneous fetal death, marriage,
Hmmmm...well I think my neighbor may have had a miscarriage. You see, she was quite plump when I saw her in January. And now, 3 months later, her belly looks much flatter. I guess I should report her, right? So she can be grilled by the Uterus Police?
If anything, this bill is quite funny to read. But, it still makes me wonder who the hell voted for this guy?
