(TWS) For years, there’s been a back-and-forth battle in Georgia concerning HB 481, otherwise referred to as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act (the LIFE Act). Last week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled to strike down the pro-life legislation, which protects an unborn baby from abortion after six weeks. The decision was mourned by pro-life advocates, yet at the same time, encouraged many to keep fighting for the right to life. On Monday, Georgia’s Supreme Court reinstated the LIFE Act.
While the battle is ongoing, the court’s ruling has allowed the pro-life law to remain “in place while an appeal is heard on a Fulton County judge’s decision to strike down the law as ‘arbitrary’” and unconstitutional, The Daily Wire reported. Notably, as The New York Times highlighted, “Six of the justices agreed in full with the majority ruling, and another only in part. One justice did not participate and another had been disqualified from participating in the case.”
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In response to the decision, Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America shared on X, “Thank you [Governor Brian Kemp] and [Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr] for your continued and unwavering dedication to protecting the youngest Georgians under the LIFE Act.” President of Students for Life Kristan Hawkins also celebrated the ruling. She shared, “Good news! Life is protected once again in Georgia!”
Conversely, the abortion giant Planned Parenthood did not take to the news well. The organization wrote on X that the decision to protect life was “devastating,” adding that “Georgians deserve better” and that “every person should be able to get the care they need.” But their lament did not stop people from sharing their support for the court’s decision in the comments. One user wrote, “That’s wonderful news. Life over homicide is always a positive human trait.” Another stated, “Every person should be allowed to be born. Yay for the babies!”
But as the news broke of the reinstatement of the LIFE Act, MSNBC chose to connect it to the case of Amber Thurman, a young woman who recently passed away in Georgia after taking the abortion pill regimen. Lisa Rubin, a legal correspondent for MSNBC, accused the pro-life law of being responsible for Thurman’s death, with many other abortion activists — including Vice President Kamala Harris — making the same claim. But during the 2024 Pray Vote Stand Summit, distinguished attorney Erin Hawley, wife of Senator Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), strongly challenged the assertion.
Many have “tried to pin her death on Georgia’s pro-life law,” Hawley said. “Many members of the media and even politicians, even one running for president, jumped on the bandwagon and blamed Georgia’s law.” But “there’s just one problem with this narrative: it is absolutely false. Georgia’s law in no way prevented the treatment of Amber Thurman.”
As she explained, there are numerous reasons for why the LIFE Act did not apply to Thurman’s case. “First,” Hawley stated, “Amber’s twins [had] already passed. The law didn’t apply because any procedure would not have taken their life. And second … Georgia’s law, like every law in the country, allows … whatever treatment is necessary to save the life of a mother.” While the reason Thurman did not receive the treatment she needed is still unclear, Hawley maintained that “it wasn’t because of Georgia’s pro-life law.”
In addition to Thurman’s passing, the tension regarding HB 481 is also heightened by the upcoming November elections in which 10 states have officially included abortion on the ballot. As The Washington Stand reported, “Voters in 10 states will vote on 11 ballot initiatives, nearly all of which would open the door to expanding the taking of innocent life as late as the third trimester.” The states include Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, and South Dakota.
Tweet This: As the battleground over unborn life remains divided, experts continue to express their gratitude for the small steps toward protecting the unborn.
As the battleground over unborn life remains divided, experts continue to express their gratitude for the small steps toward protecting the unborn while still addressing steps forward. Mary Szoch, director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity, shared her thoughts on the reinstatement of the LIFE Act in a comment to TWS. First, she said, “The court’s decision to reinstate the law that was passed by the representatives of the people of Georgia is significantly more representative of their views” — especially when compared to “the previous dictatorial ruling of one judge striking down the lifesaving law.”
Szoch continued, “When a state law changed from protecting life completely or at least after a certain stage in pregnancy to not protecting life at all,” the reality is that “the number of lives lost increases dramatically.” Considering the recent decision to uphold HB 481, Szoch emphasized, “My hope is that every American will recognize the significance of enshrining a law allowing innocent unborn babies to be killed all the way through birth in their constitution — and my prayer is that Americans will reject this evil by voting in defense of life.”
“In every state where life is on the ballot,” Szoch concluded, “pro-lifers have to show up.”
Editor's note: This article was published by The Washington Stand and is reprinted with permission.
