Georgia Rep. Bobby Franklin wants all miscarriages to be investigated in order to rule out foul play. This is an outrage and the people of Georgia need to bombard his office letting him know that HB1 is outrageous. If this bill passes I believe that many women will decide not to seek medical care in the event of a miscarriage if they have not yet been seen by a medical doctor.
Here’s the recent proposed bill This bill is essentially a “personhood” law, but it also says that miscarriages must be reported to the government. Why? So they can investigate them to see if it was a miscarriage or homicide (Section 2.14 lines 197-242). Currently records of miscarriage are kept by the doctors and hospitals that treat the women. Which is how it should be. Miscarriage should not be treated as a criminal offense.
The bill also states that as part of the investigation they could talk to your family, friends, doctors, etc… to try and determine if foul play was involved. Imagine the surprise my family and friends would have had when they were questioned about my recent loss. We had not told anyone. We were waiting until we reached 16 weeks, which happened to fall on Thanksgiving day. This scares me and makes me think that our not telling people could point to a sign of guilt, it could seem like we were hiding the pregnancy. Let’s criminalize the victim… good move, Mr. Franklin. Had I been investigated it may have been the straw that pushed me over the edge and sent me spiraling into a cycle of depression and mental instability. I was already dealing with enough pain and grief at the time without the state stepping in to question me about what happened. No woman going through a miscarriage deserves to be treated as if they did something wrong. Its already bad enough that the medical bills and insurance statements use the words “spontaneous abortion” to describe a miscarriage. Why can’t these forms just say miscarriage?
I wonder if anyone close to Bobby Franklin has ever had a miscarriage– I seriously doubt it. If so he would know that a family grieving the loss of an unborn baby does not need to be caused further grief by the state. Miscarriage is traumatic enough without the state poking their heads into the situation and investigating the event. Most women who miscarry already blame themselves, and they don’t need insensitive investigators accusing them of murder. It has been reported that 25% of all pregnancies end in miscarriage.
If you have a wife, female friend, daughter or an ounce of compassion for those who are hurting you should contact ALL of the Georgia State Representatives and let them know you oppose this bill.
I tried to email Mr. Franklin’s office and the message I got back was: “Due to the unreliability of the General Assembly’s technical support team, it is unlikely that I will receive your email. Please call my office at 404-656-0152.” My question is if the technical support team is so unreliable why are they still on the payroll? What an unprofessional message automated message, but what can I expect from someone who wants to investigate every miscarriage that occurs in the state of GA.
Tags: Georgia Rep Bobby Franklin, miscarriage, Murder
Unbelievable and just plain old STUPID! The funds could be much better spent on counseling families of loss and helping them to heal. I’m in shock!
They can’t do that, that’s a violation of the HIPPA law!!
Karen- The way the bill is written it will be against the law for the doctors to not report the miscarriages to the state. I guess it will fall in line with the rules that doctors have to notify law enforcement of gun shot wombs. I just think Bobby Franklin is a class act jerk with no compassion.
i just threw up a little bit