Despite Hollywood Threats, Georgia ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill Expected to Become Law

Despite Hollywood Threats, Georgia ‘Fetal Heartbeat’ Bill Expected to Become Law

Republican Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is expected to sign HB 481 into law this month—one of the strongest bills in the country to protect the unborn. If signed, the bill will become effective Jan. 1, 2020.

Known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (L.I.F.E.) Act, or the “fetal heartbeat” bill, the bill will ban abortions after a heartbeat is detected, which is typically around the sixth week of pregnancy. Women were previously allowed to abort up to 20 weeks.

The bill passed the Georgia Senate 92-78.

“Protecting life in the womb with a human heartbeat is what science, law and human conscience would suggest,” said State Rep. Ed Setzler, lead sponsor of the bill.

Yet many pro-choice Hollywood celebrities are threatening to cease filming in the state. The Writer’s Guild of America released a statement saying, “[HB 481] would make Georgia an inhospitable place for those in the film industry to work.” In addition, nearly 50 TV and film stars, including Alec Baldwin, Mia Farrow and Sean Penn, signed a letter to the governor, threatening to no longer work in Georgia should the bill pass. The actors threated to “do everything in [their] power” to move their industry out of the state if HB 481 became law.

HB 481 is partly a response to the passing of the Reproductive Health Act, New York’s radical new abortion-rights law. “We are not like New York or Virginia,” Senate Science and Technology Chairwoman Renee Unterman said. “We will not throw away children who aren’t perfect, because all children are perfect in the eyes of God.”

Mississippi and Kentucky have already signed fetal heartbeat measures into law, while Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas are working on similar bills.

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