State seeks to criminalize abortion, investigate miscarriages

A bill introduced in the Georgia state legislature by Republican Bobby Franklin would make abortion the equivalent of murder and require authorities to investigate all miscarriages.

The proposal would make the removal of a fetus for any reason other than a live birth or the removal of a dead fetus "prenatal murder." Doctors indicted under the law for "prenatal murder" would see their license suspended until they were found innocent of the crime, essentially flipping the notion of innocent until proven guilty. Miscarriages, while not criminal, would have to be reported and investigated by hospitals, and a fetal death certificate issued. Investigators would then be required to investigate the cause of death of any miscarriages taking place outside of a hospital, even if natural. The bill states, “The State of Georgia has the duty to protect all innocent life from the moment of conception until natural death.” It further specifies that life legally begins at conception and claims prenatal murder has been ongoing for nearly four decades and should be stopped for the protection of human “economic, health, physical, psychological, emotional, and medical well-being.”Franklin has also recently introduced a bill that would require victims of rape, stalking, harassment, and family violence be legally re-classified as "accusers" as opposed to victims.