On Monday, September 30th, the LIFE (Living Infants Fairness and Equality) Act was struck down as unconstitutional for the second time by Fulton county Judge, Robert McBurney (Sam Gringlas, “Judge Rules Georgia’s Restrictive Abortion Law Unconstitutional,” 2024). Over the last several weeks there has been much controversy and confusion over this law and what it does and does not criminalize. This is partly due to the heartbreaking story of Amber Thurman. Amber Thurman died in 2022 when she developed sepsis after a botched chemical abortion. She had traveled to North Carolina to obtain the abortion medication since it was illegal in Georgia. After she came home she started having complications and did not deliver the entire body of each of her twin babies. This caused her to develop sepsis, but when she went to the emergency room, the doctors chose not to perform a D&C (a medical procedure to clean fetal tissue out of a woman’s uterus who has had a miscarriage or abortion). Although the hospital has been asked for a comment by several news organizations, they have not given any reason why the procedure was not performed. Tragically, Amber Thurman died after she did not receive the necessary care.

Many pro-abortion news outlets and politicians claim that Thurman died because doctors were afraid they would be criminally prosecuted if they performed a D&C on someone who had an abortion because the LIFE Act “prohibits it.” However, this claim is false. The LIFE Act prohibits any abortions after six weeks or after a heartbeat has been detected, except in cases of rape, incest, medically futile pregnancies, medical emergencies, or the life of the mother (“The LIFE Act,” 2019). Therefore, the doctors would have been completely within the law to perform a D&C. Additionally, in an article by Leah Savas of WORLD magazine, several doctors practicing in states with conservative abortion policies, similar to The LIFE Act, say that it has never been a question whether or not they could legally give necessary care to a woman who has had a miscarriage or a botched abortion (“These Doctors Treat Pregnant Women Without Fear of Abortion Laws,” WORLD: 2024). The same article summarizes a quote by Senator Ed Setzler, the bill’s author: “The law allows for abortions on babies with detectable heartbeats if the physician determines ‘in his reasonable medical judgement’ that ‘a medical emergency exists.’” Setzler says this “gives ‘broad discretion’ to doctors” (“These Doctors Treat Pregnant Women Without Fear of Abortion Laws,” 2024).

Therefore, as we can see, many of the claims made by pro-abortion activists about Georgia’s LIFE Act are patently false. The LIFE Act clearly protects unborn babies as soon as it is possible to detect a heartbeat. However, it also provides exceptions for emergency care for mothers; and does not criminalize miscarriage or confuse doctors about what care they can or cannot give. The LIFE Act is a law that protects women and unborn babies, and one that, as Christians, we can support.

Sources: Georgia General Assembly, “HB 481: The LIVING INFANTS FAIRNESS and EQUALITY (LIFE) Act,” 2024, https://www.legis.ga.gov/api/legislation/document/20192020/187013); Leah Savas, “These Doctors Treat Pregnant Women Without Fear of Abortion Laws,” WORLD: September 27, 2024, https://wng.org/roundups/these-doctors-treat-pregnant-women-without-fear-of-abortion-laws-1727448229; Sam Gringlas, “Judge Rules Georgia’s Restrictive Abortion Law Unconstitutional,” WABE: September 30, 2024, https://www.wabe.org/breaking-judge-rules-georgias-restrictive-abortion-law-unconstitutional/.

For more information: Christina Grube, “County Judge Strikes Down Georgia Heartbeat Law,” WORLD: 2024.