The Ugly Truth About the Republican backed Personhood Amendment.

Let’s start this with a simple question, with a very difficult answer,  “If your 13 year old daughter were raped, would you want her to receive emergency contraception in the Hospital Emergency Department, or would you force your child to carry the attacker’s baby?”  Before answering that question, stop and realistically consider the possibility.  “Should your daughter, you sister, or your wife be forced to carry her attacker’s baby?”  If you say “yes” she should carry the baby, then no need to read any further, cast your vote for P.K. Martin.  Martin believes that abortions along with some forms of birth control should be completely banned with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, not even in the event of fetal demise.  If you believe a victim of rape should have the right to emergency contraception, then you need to vote for Timothy Swiney for Georgia State Senate.

Benjamin Franklin said, “The only things certain in life are death and taxes.”  If conservative Republicans like P.K. Martin have their way in Georgia, you can scratch death out of that statement.

Conservative Republicans, under the direction of Georgia Right to Life, have been hard at work promoting an extremist agenda that includes the so-called “Personhood Amendment” which more closely resembles Taliban law than a Georgia Constitutional Amendment.  On the surface, they promote this amendment as an anti-abortion measure that encodes the “sanctity of life” into our state constitution.  Unfortunately, the devil is truly in the details when it comes to the Personhood Amendment.   What the GRTL Republicans, don’t want to talk about is the fact that this amendment goes far beyond the issue of abortion and intrudes on your personal medical decisions, including the right of couples to have genetic testing prior to conception, the right of pregnant mothers to receive certain diagnostic tests during pregnancy, and  your right to make end of life decisions. 

The goals of this amendment are clearly stated on the Georgia Right to Life website and have been fully embraced by Georgia Republicans, including my opponent, P.K. Martin.  The stated goals are:

• Ban All Abortions.
• Provide NO exception in cases of rape or incest.
• Ban  Emergency Rooms from offering emergency contraception to rape victims.
• Ban multiple forms of birth control.
• Prevent young couples from seeking genetic screening for inheritable genetic disorders prior to conception.
• Ban genetic testing during pregnancy.
• Ban fetoscopy – an endoscopic procedure that allows the physician to directly view a fetus and in some cases perform life-saving intrauterine surgery on a fetus.
• Severely limits the use and effectiveness of in vitro fertilization procedures for couples wishing to become pregnant.
• Regulates End of Life decisions and right to healthcare privacy. 
• Ban Living Wills.
• Outlaw the removal of life support even in cases of irreversible and confirmed brain death.

One of the most troublesome stated goals of this amendment is to ban living wills.  Yes, BAN LIVING WILLS.  Georgia Right to Life’s website makes the following statement about Living Wills;  “No legislature should authorize the surrender of a patient’s right to life to an agent, committee, or court.”  They further claim that Living Wills are used to "justify the killing of those who are legally incompetent."  P.K. Martin agrees with that statement, or GRTL would never endorse him.

This amendment not only voids your living will, it prevents your spouse and family members from authorizing the withdrawal of artificial life-prolonging devices, even in cases of confirmed irreversible brain death, or terminal illnesses that cause uncontrollable pain and suffering.

In addition to heavily regulating private healthcare decisions prior to conception, and interfering in private end of life decisions; a major side effect of this amendment will be to critically limit the availability of organ donors.  Organ collection often occurs in surgery while the donor is kept biologically alive on artificial life support.  Since removal of the heart, lungs, and liver will result in biological death, this method of organ recovery would be illegal and many donor organs will become no longer viable.  Those who are awaiting major organ donations will have a better chance of winning PowerBall than finding a suitable donor organ.

Every single GRTL endorsed candidate, including my opponent P.K. Martin, has pledged to support this constitutional amendment along with the entire radical agenda, including the ban on Living Wills.  A vote for a GRTL Candidate is a vote to lock rape and incest survivors into the victim status, allowing the attacker to reduce a woman to being an incubator and continue to control his victim's body throughout the nine month pregnancy.  It is a vote against your right to a peaceful death with dignity.  It is a vote to ban many forms of contraception, to ban genetic testing prior to conception, and to ban certain diagnostic and therapeutic procedures during pregnancy. 

The Republican Party claims to be the party of less government, but the truth is they mean less government regulation for big business and corporations.  Less government oversight of environmental pollutants.  Less government oversight of worker safety.  Less government oversight of guns.  less government oversight of food and drug safety.   Yet, when it comes to our private lives, conservative Republicans are all for putting big government into everything from a woman’s uterus, to classrooms, to your doctor’s office,  to your marriage bed, even in your death bed. 

Enough is enough.  As your State Senator I will fight to stop this radical agenda.  Together we must educate ourselves, our friends, co-workers and neighbors on the true Taliban-style nature of the Personhood Amendment and the extremely radical agenda that is being pushed by conservative Republicans.  

As a Christian, I fully understand the conflict over abortion rights and the right to make private end of life decisions.  I share the personal conflict of those who try to honor their faith while respecting the constitutional rights of others. But the very last place these decisions should be made is in the state legislature by politically motivated, ambitious politicians under pressure from radical special interest groups.  These decisions are more appropriately made by individuals in consultation with their family. their physician, and their priest or minister.