Column: Stacey Abrams has made a Regency Mall size mistake

Steven Kendrick’s campaign misstep of announcing the Regency Mall development came at a high price. Stacey Abram’s campaign recently made a Regency Mall size mistake that is making me wonder if Kendrick’s campaign manager is advising her.

On Sept. 23, Abrams claimed that “there is no such thing as a heartbeat at six weeks. It is a manufactured sound designed to convince people that men have the right to take control of a woman’s body.”

The comments set off a firestorm of discussion nationwide. I predict Abrams’ comments won’t have her desired effect.

Few issues have divided this great country more than abortion. Sadly, the gruesome procedure has to be debated.

If you can’t figure out from my commentary, I am pro-life.

Abrams’ comments come from a place of ignorance. I have personally heard the heartbeat of all seven of my children – each around that six-week mark. To say that what I heard was not a heartbeat but rather manufactured is preposterous. 

Who manufactured the heartbeat sound? The machine? The sonographer? The fairy godmother? No, it was not manufactured. It was created by almighty God and is thus precious and worth protecting.

Abrams, who is down in the poles, is banking on suburban women switching parties and voting Democratic. The campaign ads would make you believe that the majority of women are angry about the abortion law changes and therefore will reflect that in the polls. 

It is my belief that this is a severe miscalculation and that traditionally Republican women who have children will not be switching parties. Abrams’ comments make it clear that she is an activist rather than a civil servant. She has made her intentions known that she wants to step on the back of Georgia to launch a national campaign for the presidency.

Women who have had children and heard those precious heartbeats at six weeks need seriously to consider Abrams’ comments and what they mean for the fight for life.

At the center of the debate is the Georgia heartbeat bill. Abrams’ campaign has consumed the airwaves with constant advertisements blasting Kemp and the bill making untrue statements that grossly mischaracterize the points in the bill.

I had a recent conversation with a local elected official who disagreed with me on what was in the bill.  So, I went back and read the bills text a few times to make sure I was on solid ground. 

The text of the bill is below. I want to encourage everyone to read it if you have not already and make a decision for yourself what it does and does not say.

The bill does not criminalize abortions for women who have a medical condition.  Legitimate medical issues usually result in a miscarriage, but in the event it does not, and the pregnancy threatens the mother’s life, the law does not stop an abortion. It certainly does not put the mother at risk of being prosecuted. It does, however, require the procedure be performed by a licensed doctor.

It does state that deliberately aborting a baby who does have a heartbeat after six weeks for a non-medical emergency related reason is considered homicide.

Below are a few relevant sections taken directly out of the bill. What you will find is that the bill is based on science, something Abrams has discarded.

• It is the responsibility of the legislative branch of the state to appropriately balance the competing life and health interests of the unborn child with the life, health, and privacy interests of the pregnant mother
• The American Academy of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Clinical Management Guidelines (2015) provides that “ultrasonography” that detects a human heartbeat “is the preferred modality to determine the presence of a ‘viable’ intrauterine gestation”; With the broad availability of ultrasound technology to physicians, nurses, and sonographers throughout the state, the ability of medical practitioners to detect the presence of the fetal heartbeat has become the standard in establishing the viability of a pregnancy;
• The Uniform Determination of Death Act (UDDA, 1981) affirms that a consistent human heartbeat, independent of life support, is a core determining factor in establishing the legal presence of human life in a full range of circumstances, for the young and old alike;
• No abortion is authorized or shall be performed the unborn child has been determined to have a human heartbeat unless the pregnancy is diagnosed as medically futile, as such term is defined in Code Section 31-9B-1, or except when, in reasonable medical judgment, the abortion is necessary to:(A) Necessary to avert the death of the pregnant woman or avert serious risk of substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman. No such condition shall be deemed to exist if it is based on a diagnosis or claim of a mental or emotional condition of the pregnant woman or that the pregnant woman will purposefully engage in conduct which she intends to result in her death or in substantial and irreversible physical impairment of a major bodily function; or (B) Necessary to preserve the life of an unborn child; or (C) Because of a pregnancy with an unborn child of 20 weeks or less gestational age that resulted from rape or incest in which an official police report has been filed alleging the offense of rape or incest.
• Any woman upon whom an abortion is performed in violation of this Code section may recover in a civil action from the person who engaged in such violation all damages available to her under Georgia law for any torts.

In promoting activism over science, Abrams has discounted what for many mothers is the first time they will hear their child’s heartbeat. Hopefully, those same women will recognize Abram’s lunacy and issue a strong rebuke at the polls thus discouraging Abrams from running for higher office. Perhaps Georgia can test just how many votes it will take for Abrams to concede the election this cycle.