ATLANTA — A proposed constitutional amendment that defines life as beginning at fertilization seems unlikely to reach the House floor after a subcommittee tabled the measure Wednesday.
The move came after seven hours of testimony over two days, but the legislation’s sponsor, Rep. Martin Scott, R-Rossville, said he will continue to fight to bring the legislation to a House vote this session.
His “human life” amendment aims ultimately to challenge abortion rights established by the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Roe v. Wade.
“It’s not over,” Rep. Scott told Georgia Right to Life members after the hearing.
Rep. Scott had asked the House Judiciary subcommittee for an up-or-down vote Wednesday, but Chairman Rep. Edward Lindsey, R-Atlanta, advised House members to simply put down the broad-reaching legislation. He said it could tie legislators’ hands in the future when deciding specific issues ranging from fertility counseling to birth control to medical treatments.
“I am concerned about a culture of death, but we’re best off giving the Legislature flexibility to work through these thorny issues,” Rep. Lindsey said. “More thought is needed.”
He pointed out that abortion opponents such as the National Right to Life organization and Georgia’s two Catholic bishops have come out against the proposed amendment because they don’t think it offers a viable way to challenge Roe v. Wade. That Supreme Court precedent would need to be overturned to ban abortion in any state.
“The best way to do so is through more narrow attacks,” said Rep. Lindsey, an attorney.
Rep. Scott and attorneys supporting the legislation said those abortion rights opponents have a problem with the timing and strategy, not with the moral implications.
To keep the proposed amendment alive, Rep. Scott said he needs to rally the House leadership to use committee hawks, who can vote on any committee, and ex-officio members to bring the resolution to a vote before the end of the legislative session, which hit its halfway mark Wednesday.
“We need to get a commitment from the speaker and majority leader to use ... all the power vested in them to protect innocent human life,” he said.
Speaker Glenn Richardson has publicly opposed the amendment. A spokeswoman for Rep. Richardson could not be reached for comment Wednesday evening.
To pass, a constitutional amendment needs approval by two-thirds of both chambers and a majority of Georgia voters. Rep. Scott’s resolution has almost 60 of the 180 House members as signers.
ON THE NET
House Resolution 536: http://www.legis.ga.gov/
