Equal Protection Pro-Life Bill Expected to Get a Hearing Before Crossover

Equal Protection Pro-Life Bill Expected to Get a Hearing Before Crossover

By Georgia Republican Assembly | February 18, 2025 | , | No Comments
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Atlanta, GA — In a surprise move, Speaker Jon Burns (District 159) did not this year assign State Rep. Emory Dunahoo‘s (District 31) new version of the Equal Protection Pro-Life Bill H.B. 441 to Sharon Cooper‘s (District 45) Public Health Committee. Last term, the bill had been assigned to Cooper’s committee, where it died on the vine as Cooper did not ever allow the bill to come up for discussion or a vote in a hearing. Cooper has been long known as perhaps the least pro-life Republican state legislator at the capitol. But today the Speaker instead assigned the bill to the Judiciary Non-Civil Committee chaired by State Rep. Tyler Paul Smith (District 18).

“This is such a big step!” said GRA Junior NFRA Director Abigail Darnell, who also serves as the elected 1st Vice President of Georgia Right to Life (GRTL). “Finally, we will be discussing elective abortion in the category of criminal justice — not healthcare — as the debate has been wrongly framed in the past.”

Tyler
Rep. Tyler Paul Smith

Rep. Tyler Paul Smith is expected to ensure the bill does receive a hearing this time since he was one of the co-sponsors on the bill in the previous term. If the bill is approved by the committee, it can then be brought up and voted on by the full State House. Republicans outnumber Democrats on that committee 12 to 5.

“Passing this legislation would simply bring state law into conformity with the Georgia Republican Party platform on this subject,” said GRA President Nathaniel Darnell. “We should expect every Republican legislator on the committee to vote in its favor.”

GRA-endorsed State Rep. Charlice Byrd (Cherokee) is one of the members of the committee, and a co-sponsor of the bill.

But in order for any House Bill to have a hope of passing and becoming state law, it must be voted on and pass the State House by “Crossover Day,” which is expected to be March 6th. Supporters have started calling State Representatives on the committee to urge them to vote in support of the bill as drafted.

“There will probably be some who wrongfully want to water down the text of the bill or add all kinds of imaginable exceptions for non-normative situations,” said Darnell. “But it is the job of the jury in a trial to determine if a homicide in a particular case is justifiable or excusable, that is not the job of the state code. This bill would simply say that elective abortion should be treated like any other type of homicide. As with any other homicide, the jury must evaluate the facts of a specific case. It is wrong to carve out exceptions for a particular type of homicide, such as the killing of people of a particular race or age. Equal justice is when the law applies to everyone equally.”

Contact Legislators in Support of HB-441
You can do your part to end legalized abortion in Georgia by calling or emailing the committee members and urging them to vote HB 441 out of committee to the House for a vote, and then on to the Senate chamber for a vote!

Contact the office of Representative Tyler Paul Smith and the following members of the House Judiciary Non-Civil Committee and urge them to give HB 441 a hearing!

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