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House Bill 481 (COMMITTTEE SUBSTITUTE)

By: Representatives Setzler of the 35th, Lott of the 122nd, Taylor of the 173rd, Bonner of the
72nd, Ehrhart of the 36th, and others

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT

1 To amend Chapter 2 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to persons
2 and their rights, so as to provide that all natural persons at any stage of development,
3 including an unborn child at any stage of development who is carried in the womb, shall be
4 included in state population based determinations; to amend Article 5 of Chapter 12 of Title
5 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to abortion, so as to revise the time
6 when an abortion may be performed; to amend Chapter 9A of Title 31 of the Official Code
7 of Georgia Annotated, relating to the "Woman's Right to Know Act," to provide for advising
8 women seeking an abortion of the presence of a human heartbeat; to remove certain
9 penalties; to amend Chapter 9B of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated,
10 relating to physician's obligation in performance of abortions, so as to require physicians
11 performing abortions to determine the existence of a human heartbeat before performing an
12 abortion; to provide for the reporting of certain information by physicians; to amend
13 Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to parent and child
14 relationship generally, to provide that the right to recover for the full value of a child begins
15 at the first detection of a human heartbeat in the womb in the cases of a homicide of a child
16 carried in the womb; to amend Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia
17 Annotated, relating to income taxes, to provide that a natural person carried in the womb is
18 a dependent minor for income tax purposes; to provide for legislative findings; to provide for
19 related matters; to provide for standing to intervene and defend constitutional challenges to
20 this Act; to provide a short title; to provide an effective date; to repeal conflicting laws; and
21 for other purposes.

22 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA:

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23 PART I
24 SECTION 1-1.

25 This Act shall be known and may be cited as the "Living Infants Fairness and Equality
26 (LIFE) Act."

27 SECTION 1-2.
28 The General Assembly of Georgia makes the following findings:
29 (1) In the founding of the United States of America, the State of Georgia and the several
30 states affirmed that: "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created
31 equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among
32 these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness – that to secure these Rights,
33 Governments are instituted among men;"
34 (2) To protect the fundamental rights of all human beings, and specifically to protect the
35 fundamental rights of particular classes of persons who had not previously been
36 recognized under law, the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified,
37 providing that, "nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
38 without due process of law; nor deny any person within its jurisdiction the equal
39 protection of the laws";
40 (3) Modern medical science, not available decades ago, demonstrates that early infants
41 in the womb are a class of living, distinct human beings that, among other individual
42 human traits, have their own distinct blood types, distinct organ systems, distinct central
43 nervous systems, unique fingerprints, unique genetic characteristics, and approximately
44 six weeks gestational age, detectable human heartbeats; from earliest development,
45 unborn children need only nourishment and a safe environment to grow to full adulthood;
46 (4) The State of Georgia, applying reasoned judgment to the full body of modern medical
47 science, recognizes the benefits of providing early infants in the womb with full legal
48 recognition as members of the human community, above the minimum requirements of
49 federal law;
50 (5) The United States Supreme Court held unanimously in Pruneyard v. Robins (1980)
51 that a state may provide a more expansive level of protection of a fundamental right than
52 the minimum required by the United States Constitution; and that previous United States
53 Supreme Court precedent ruled, in the absence of more expansive state protections, that
54 it "does not ex proprio vigore limit a State's authority to exercise its police power or its
55 sovereign right to adopt in its own constitution individual liberties more expansive than
56 those conferred by the Federal Constitution";

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57 (6) Article I, Section I, Paragraphs I and II of the Constitution of the State of Georgia
58 affirm that "[n]o person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property except by due
59 process of law"; and that "[p]rotection to person and property is the paramount duty of
60 government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal
61 protection of the laws";
62 (7) The State of Georgia, supported by modern medical science and acting with reasoned
63 judgment in its "right to adopt in its own…individual liberties more expansive than those
64 [minimum requirements] conferred by the Federal Constitution," finds that unborn
65 children shall be worthy of recognition as natural persons under the laws of this State;
66 (8) Such legal recognition by the state requires legislative action to clarify conditions and
67 practical considerations regarding the general qualifications for state population
68 determinations, civil rights of recovery, and state abortion law;
69 (9) It is the responsibility of the legislative branch of the state to appropriately balance
70 the competing life and health interests of the unborn child with the life, health, and
71 privacy interests of the pregnant mother;
72 (10) In the Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) decision, the United States Supreme
73 Court established that government is free to express "profound respect for the life of the
74 unborn" at any stage of pregnancy and established a "compelling state interest" to protect
75 the "potentiality of human life" of the unborn child at the point of "fetal viability" at
76 which time "the independent essence of the second life can now be the object of state
77 protection";
78 (11) The American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Management
79 Guidelines (2015) provides that "ultrasonography" that detects a human heartbeat "is the
80 preferred modality to determine the presence of a 'viable' intrauterine gestation";
81 (12) With the broad availability of ultrasound technology to physicians, nurses, and
82 sonographers throughout the state, the ability of medical practitioners to detect the
83 presence of the fetal heartbeat has become the standard in establishing the viability of a
84 pregnancy;
85 (13) The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA, 1981) is a model state law that
86 for nearly four decades has been the nation-wide standard, long adopted by the American
87 Medical Association, American Bar Association, State of Georgia, and almost all states
88 in the United States, "to provide a comprehensive and medically sound basis for
89 determining death [or life] in all situations";
90 (14) The UDDA affirms that a consistent human heartbeat, independent of life support,
91 is a core determining factor in establishing the legal presence of human life in a full range
92 of circumstances, for the young and old alike;

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93 (15) This more expansive and constitutionally valid state recognition of unborn children
94 as persons did not exist when the state statutes leading to the current federal abortion
95 related precedents Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992), Roe v. Wade (1973), et al. were
96 established;
97 (16) It is the intent of the state to effectively balance Casey's "strict scrutiny" protections
98 under the 14th Amendment for the liberty interest of the mother with the "strict scrutiny"
99 protections under the 14th Amendment for the life interest of the person in the womb;
100 (17) In applying the balancing test of "strict scrutiny" to two "compelling state interests"
101 in tension with each other, the State of Georgia finds that "narrowly tailoring" the
102 protection of the life interest of the person in the womb, recognized from earliest fetal
103 development, leads to the life interest receding reasonably to the point of the legally and
104 medically substantial bright line test of "viable" human life, the human heartbeat, to
105 accommodate Casey's standard of "no undue burden" to abortion before "fetal viability"
106 wherein "the unborn person's life 'can in reason and all fairness' be thought to override
107 the interests of the mother;"
108 (18) To provide medical clarity and legal finality to the issue, it is the state's intent to no
109 longer base the "viability" threshold for persons in the womb upon the medically
110 uncertain concept of "potentially able to live outside the mother's womb", which not even
111 healthy full-term infants can without "artificial aid;" but rather, to base it upon the firm
112 legal standard for determining human life and death used nationally for nearly four
113 decades (UDDA) and the medical standard that is "the preferred modality to determine
114 the presence of a 'viable' intrauterine gestation," the presence of a human heartbeat, which
115 is a consistent, clearly definable threshold at which the person in the womb has a greater
116 than 95 percent chance of survival when carried to term;
117 (19) It shall be the policy of the State of Georgia to recognize the presence of a fetal
118 heartbeat as the point of "fetal viability," creating a compelling state interest to protect
119 "the independent essence of the second life" as an "object of state protection" from
120 abortion; and
121 (20) It shall be the policy of the State of Georgia to recognize unborn children as natural
122 persons who qualify for state income tax deductions and state population based
123 determinations.

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124 PART II
125 SECTION 2-1.

126 Chapter 2 of Title 1 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to persons and their
127 rights, is amended by revising Code Section 1-2-1, relating to classes of persons generally,
128 corporations deemed artificial persons, and nature of corporations generally, as follows:
129 "1-2-1.
130 (a) There are two classes of persons: natural and artificial.
131 (b) Unless otherwise provided by law, any natural person, including an unborn child at any
132 stage of development who is carried in the womb, shall be included in state population
133 based determinations.
134 (b)(c) Corporations are artificial persons. They are creatures of the law and, except insofar
135 as the law forbids it, they are subject to be changed, modified, or destroyed at the will of
136 their creator."

137 PART III

138 SECTION 3-1.

139 Article 5 of Chapter 12 of Title 16 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to
140 abortion, is amended by revising Code Section 16-12-141, relating to restrictions on the
141 performance of abortions and availability of records, as follows:
142 "16-12-141.
143 (a) No abortion is authorized or shall be performed in violation of subsection (a) of Code
144 Section 31-9B-2.
145 (b)(1) No abortion is authorized or shall be performed after the first trimester unless the
146 abortion is performed in a licensed hospital, in a licensed ambulatory surgical center, or
147 in a health facility licensed as an abortion facility by the Department of Community
148 Health.
149 (2) An abortion shall only be performed by a physician licensed under Article 2 of
150 Chapter 34 of Title 43.
151 (c)(a)(1) No abortion is authorized or shall be performed if the probable gestational age
152 of the unborn child has been determined in accordance with Code Section 31-9B-2 to
153 be 20 weeks or more to have a human heartbeat unless the pregnancy is diagnosed as
154 medically futile, as such term is defined in Code Section 31-9B-1, or except when, in
155 reasonable medical judgment, the abortion is necessary to:
156 (A) Necessary to avert Avert the death of the pregnant woman or avert serious risk of
157 substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the

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158 pregnant woman. No such condition shall be deemed to exist if it is based on a

159 diagnosis or claim of a mental or emotional condition of the pregnant woman or that
160 the pregnant woman will purposefully engage in conduct which she intends to result in
161 her death or in substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily
162 function; or
163 (B) Necessary to preserve Preserve the life of an unborn child; or
164 (C) Because of a pregnancy with an unborn child of 20 weeks or less gestational age
165 that resulted from rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed
166 alleging the offense of rape or incest.
167 As used in this paragraph, the term 'probable gestational age of the unborn child' has the
168 meaning provided by Code Section 31-9B-1.
169 (2) In any case described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) of this subsection,
170 the physician shall terminate the pregnancy in the manner which, in reasonable medical
171 judgment, provides the best opportunity for the unborn child to survive unless, in
172 reasonable medical judgment, termination of the pregnancy in that manner would pose
173 a greater risk either of the death of the pregnant woman or of the substantial and
174 irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman than
175 would another available method. No such greater risk shall be deemed to exist if it is
176 based on a diagnosis or claim of a mental or emotional condition of the pregnant woman
177 or that the pregnant woman will purposefully engage in conduct which she intends to
178 result in her death or in substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily
179 function. If the child is capable of sustained life, medical aid then available must be
180 rendered.
181 (b) No abortion is authorized or shall be performed in violation of subsection (a) of Code
182 Section 31-9B-2.
183 (c)(1) No abortion is authorized or shall be performed after the first trimester unless the
184 abortion is performed in a licensed hospital, in a licensed ambulatory surgical center, or
185 in a health facility licensed as an abortion facility by the Department of Community
186 Health.
187 (2) An abortion shall only be performed by a physician licensed under Article 2 of
188 Chapter 34 of Title 43.
189 (d) Hospital Physician, hospital, or other licensed health facility records shall be available
190 to law enforcement agencies within the district attorney of the judicial circuit in which the
191 physician, hospital, or health facility is located.
192 (e) Any woman upon whom an abortion is performed in violation of this Code section may
193 recover in a civil action from the person who engaged in such violation all damages
194 available to her under Georgia law for any torts."

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195 SECTION 3-2.

196 To amend Chapter 9A of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to the
197 "Woman's Right to Know Act," by revising paragraph (1) of Code Section 31-9A-3, relating
198 to voluntary and informed consent to abortion and availability of ultrasound, as follows:
199 "(1) The female is told the following, by telephone or in person, by the physician who
200 is to perform the abortion, by a qualified agent of the physician who is to perform the
201 abortion, by a qualified agent of a referring physician, or by a referring physician, at
202 least 24 hours before the abortion:
203 (A) The particular medical risks to the individual patient associated with the particular
204 abortion procedure to be employed, when medically accurate;
205 (B) The probable gestational age and presence of a human heartbeat of the unborn
206 child at the time the abortion would be performed; and
207 (C) The medical risks associated with carrying the unborn child to term.
208 The information required by this paragraph may be provided by telephone without
209 conducting a physical examination or tests of the patient, in which case the information
210 required to be provided may be based on facts supplied to the physician by the female and
211 whatever other relevant information is reasonably available to the physician. Such
212 information may not be provided by a tape recording but must be provided during a
213 consultation in which the physician or a qualified agent of the physician is able to ask
214 questions of the female and the female is able to ask questions of the physician or the
215 physician's qualified agent. If in the medical judgment of the physician any physical
216 examination, tests, or other information subsequently provided to the physician requires
217 a revision of the information previously supplied to the patient, that revised information
218 shall be communicated to the patient prior to the performance of the abortion. Nothing
219 in this Code section may be construed to preclude provision of required information in
220 a language understood by the patient through a translator;"

221 SECTION 3-3.

222 Said chapter is further amended by revising paragraph (3) of subsection (a) of Code
223 Section 31-9A-4, relating to information to be made available by the Department of Public
224 Health, format requirements, availability, and requirements for website, as follows:
225 "(3) Materials with the following statement concerning unborn children with a human
226 heartbeat and of 20 weeks' or more gestational age:
227 'By six weeks' gestation, the unborn child has a human heartbeat. By 20 weeks'
228 gestation, the unborn child has the physical structures necessary to experience pain.
229 There is evidence that by 20 weeks' gestation unborn children seek to evade certain
230 stimuli in a manner which in an infant or an adult would be interpreted to be a response

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231 to pain. Anesthesia is routinely administered to unborn children who are 20 weeks'
232 gestational age or older who undergo prenatal surgery.'
233 The materials shall be objective, nonjudgmental, and designed to convey only accurate
234 scientific information about the unborn child at the various gestational ages."

235 SECTION 3-4.

236 Said chapter is further amended by repealing in its entirety Code Section 31-9A-6.1, relating
237 to civil and professional penalties for violations and prerequisites for seeking penalties.

238 SECTION 3-5.

239 Chapter 9B of Title 31 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to physician's
240 obligation in performance of abortions, is amended by revising Code Section 31-9B-2,
241 relating to requirement to determine probable gestational age of unborn child, as follows:
242 "31-9B-2.
243 (a) Except in the case of a medical emergency or when a pregnancy is diagnosed as
244 medically futile, no abortion shall be performed or attempted to be performed unless the
245 physician performing it such procedure has first made a determination of the probable
246 gestational age presence of a human heartbeat of the unborn child or relied upon such a
247 determination made by another physician.
248 (b) Failure In addition to any criminal or civil penalties provided by law, failure by any
249 physician to conform to any requirement of this Code section constitutes unprofessional
250 conduct for purposes of paragraph (7) of subsection (a) of Code Section 43-34-8 relating
251 to medical licensing sanctions."

252 SECTION 3-6.

253 Said chapter is further amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 31-9B-3, relating
254 to required reporting of physicians and departments, confidentiality, and failure to comply,
255 as follows:
256 "(a) Any physician who performs or attempts to perform an abortion shall report to the
257 department, in conjunction with the reports required under Code Section 31-9A-6 and in
258 accordance with forms and rules and regulations adopted and promulgated by the
259 department:
260 (1) If a determination of probable gestational age the presence of a human heartbeat was
261 made, the probable gestational age determined and the method and basis of the
262 determination;

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263 (2) If a determination of probable gestational age the presence of a human heartbeat was
264 not made, the basis of the determination that a medical emergency existed or that a
265 pregnancy was diagnosed as medically futile;
266 (3) If the probable gestational age was determined to be 20 or more weeks a
267 determination of the presence of a human heartbeat was made, the basis of the
268 determination that the pregnant woman had a medically futile pregnancy or had a
269 condition which so complicated her medical condition as to necessitate the termination
270 of her pregnancy to avert her death or to avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible
271 physical impairment of a major bodily function, or the basis of the determination that it
272 was necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child; and
273 (4) The method used for the abortion and, in the case of an abortion performed when the
274 probable gestational age was determined to be 20 or more weeks, whether the method of
275 abortion used was one that, in reasonable medical judgment, provided the best
276 opportunity for the unborn child to survive or, if such a method was not used, the basis
277 of the determination that the pregnancy was medically futile, if applicable or that
278 termination of the pregnancy in that manner would pose a greater risk either of the death
279 of the pregnant woman or of the substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a
280 major bodily function of the pregnant woman than would other available methods."

281 PART IV
282 SECTION 4-1.

283 Chapter 7 of Title 19 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to parent and child
284 relationship generally, is amended by revising paragraph (1) of subsection (c) of Code
285 Section 19-7-1, relating to in whom parental power lies, how such power lost, and recovery
286 for homicide of child, as follows:
287 "(c)(1) In every case of the homicide of a child, minor or sui juris, there shall be some
288 party entitled to recover the full value of the life of the child, either as provided in this
289 Code section or as provided in Chapter 4 of Title 51. For the homicide of a child carried
290 in the womb, the right to recover for the full value of the life of such child shall begin at
291 the point at which a human heartbeat is present."

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292 PART V
293 SECTION 5-1.

294 Chapter 7 of Title 48 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to income taxes,
295 is amended by revising subsection (a) of Code Section 48-7-26, relating to personal
296 exemptions, as follows:
297 "(a) As used in this Code section, the term 'dependent' shall have the same meaning as in
298 the Internal Revenue Code of 1986; provided, however, that any natural person, including
299 an unborn child at any stage of development who is carried in the womb shall qualify as
300 a dependent minor."

301 PART VI
302 SECTION 6-1.

303 Any citizen of this state shall have standing and the right to intervene and defend in any
304 action challenging the constitutionality of any portion of this Act.

305 SECTION 6-2.

306 All provisions of this Act shall be severable in accordance with Code Section 1-1-3.

307 PART VII

308 SECTION 7-1.

309 This Act shall become effective on January 1, 2020.

310 SECTION 7-2.

311 All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are repealed.

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