Monday, February 18, 2008
News 'Human life' hearing not quite the threat it seems
Posted by Scott Henry @ScottTheHenry on Mon, Feb 18, 2008 at 9:13 PM
As this item is being posted – around 4 p.m. Monday – a public hearing is unfolding in a legislative committee room across from the Capitol that will showcase what are likely the two nuttiest, most extremist hot-potato bills of this General Assembly.
The first is another in a long series of absurdist anti-abortion proposals from state Rep. Bobby Franklin, R-East Cobb, the king of file-it-and-forget-about-it legislation. His bill would make it a capital offense to perform an abortion in Georgia.
The second item, introduced by fellow loon Rep. Martin Scott, R-Rossville, has already gained notoriety in other states as the "Human Life Amendment." The proposal, HR 536, would define newly fertilized embryos as "persons" – a distinction that confers a "right to life," according to the measure.
Pro-choice activists had expected to face Scott's resolution this year; lobbying from conservative Christian groups was too fierce for it to stay bottled up. Hell, the measure even has its own website. But they didn't anticipate having to deal with Franklin's HB1, which (I just enjoy saying this) calls for doctors who perform abortions to be put to death.
As a result, such groups as the Feminist Women’s Health Center held a press conference this morning to decry what they see as a twin threat of poison legislation.
Granted, we don't usually see Franklin bills make it as far as a committee hearing, but how seriously should we take this portent? And why would Rep. Ed Lindsey, the level-headed, moderate Atlanta Republican who chairs the subcommittee in question, decide to hear these two bills?
Basically, we asked Lindsey, WTF? The answer was enlightening.
He explained that he paired the bills because one would affect the other if passed. There will be six hours of scheduled hearings spread over two days. In addition to the various interest groups on both sides of the issue, Lindsey has asked professors, doctors and health experts to explain the potential impact of the bills – including the foreseeable consequences of declaring a zygote a person with legal rights.
In other words, Lindsey wants fellow lawmakers to understand what would happen if the concept of personhood is stretched to its illogical conclusion.
He puts it more diplomatically: "I want to give both of these measures a full and fair hearing and, if we do, I have a feeling how it's going to turn out."
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