Many people know my story of becoming pro-life. I was pregnant for the first time, I had never been pro-choice, but I thought it wasn’t my business to say what others should do. I had a sonogram—one of those grainy ones where the doctor was pointing things out and I couldn’t make them out. I did make out one thing, though—the beating heart. At that moment I said to myself, “Thank God, I never had to make that choice!”
Since then, I’ve done what I can to be compassionate and reasonable in talking about abortion. It seems the arguments that don’t come out of the political process are sometimes the most convincing. In 2002, GE produced an ad about their new sonogram machine. When the black screen turned into a baby’s face, pro-life groups saw a surge in new memberships because there was no denying that person was a baby. GE didn’t plan that, but that is what happened. Recently, I was watching an ad for a heart medication. At the end, the tag line said, “Do not use if you are planning to get pregnant or are pregnant because it could cause harm or kill your baby.” The ad calls an unborn child and baby as we all do.
I’ve concluded no woman wants to have an abortion. Any parent would gladly give their life to save their child’s life. That’s in our DNA. That is why this discussion is so difficult and the other side is so angry. Ending a pregnancy goes against human nature. Now I live in the world where I know it’s complicated and we have to be compassionate and not angry.. That’s why I support the Heartbeat Bill in Georgia. It’s not what you are being told and Stacey Abrams ought to be ashamed of herself for misrepresenting what’s in the bill for political purposes. She recently put out this ad with so many inaccuracies, I needed to address each of them below. Let’s let the bill go into place and then in the next legislative session, if changes need to be made, we will make them then.
Myth: “Kemp signed a bill into law that bans abortions *before most women know they are pregnant*
Truth: More than 77% of women know they are pregnant by they are 5.5 weeks gestation into their pregnancy*. The ‘heartbeat bill’ bans abortion in most circumstances after detection of fetal heartbeat, which is typically around 8 weeks gestation. Meaning, the majority of women know they are pregnant 2 and a half WEEKS before an abortion would be no longer available. (source: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5269518/)
Myth: “The Heartbeat bill outlaws some forms of birth control”
Truth: No part or portion of the heartbeat bill bans any form of birth control, in any circumstances or instances. Every single birth control method, as currently defined by the FDA, is fully legal and not even mentioned in the Heartbeat bill.
Myth: “Criminalize women with jail time for abortions”
Truth: The heartbeat bill provides an affirmative defense against prosecution for women who obtain an abortion, lines 172-173. The GA Court of Appeals said in Hillman v. State that criminal abortion doesn’t apply to women seeking abortions, only to the doctors performing the procedure/prescribing the medication. They further stated that the criminal abortion statute is “written in the third person, clearly indicating that at least two actors must be involved…[and] does not criminalize a pregnant woman’s actions in securing an abortion, regardless of the means utilized.”
Myth: “Investigated and imprisoned for miscarriage”
Truth: Lines 88-94 of the bill specifically and without question exclude miscarriage from the definition of abortions. No woman will be investigated for miscarriage; and, as we’ve already made clear, no woman would be imprisoned for abortion – so no woman will be imprisoned or charged with a crime for a tragedy. This is a manipulative and abusive lie intended to exploit women who have experienced true and heartbreaking grief in losing a child – and pro-abortion politicians who are continuing to spread this lie should be ashamed of themselves. Women deserve better than this.
So, let’s deal with the facts and got to the polls and vote for the truth in November and vote for Brian Kemp.
