Georgia lawmaker proposes classifying miscarriages as ‘prenatal murder’

Earlier this year, a furor broke out in Congress over pending House legislation that critics contended would cut off federal funding for abortion in cases involving rape and incest. But that controversy may well pale beside a new proposal before the Georgia House.

Georgia State Rep. Bobby Franklin, a Republican from Marietta, Georgia, has introduced a bill that would criminalize miscarriages, making abortion and miscarriage -- or "prenatal murder" in the language of the bill -- potentially punishable by death.

Reports Mother Jones' Jen Phillips:

Under Rep. Franklin's bill, HB 1, women who miscarry could become felons if they cannot prove that there was "no human involvement whatsoever in the causation" of their miscarriage. There is no clarification of what "human involvement" means, and this is hugely problematic as medical doctors do not know exactly what causes miscarriages. Miscarriages are estimated to terminate up to a quarter of all pregnancies and the Mayo Clinic says that "the actual number is probably much higher because many miscarriages occur so early in pregnancy that a woman doesn't even know she's pregnant. Most miscarriages occur because the fetus isn't developing normally."

Phillips notes that last year Franklin -- a graduate of Covenant College who's served in the Georgia House since 1997 -- proposed a law that would reclassify victims of domestic violence as "accusers." His bio on the Georgia House website describes Franklin "an active member of the Reformed Presbyterian Church" but omits any mention of his marital status. And we were curious to learn whether the author of legislation that extends the state's reach very far into the private lives of women was himself married -- so we called his office to inquire, and staffer Leigh Goff told us she's "not sure" if he is.

Franklin's online bio also states that he "has been called 'the conscience of the Republican Caucus' because he believes that civil government should return to its biblically and constitutionally defined role." The present legislation would hold women women legally responsible for the health and well-being of a fetus from "the moment of conception"-- weeks before modern pregnancy testing can accurately determine whether or not a woman is pregnant. So it seems to follow that Franklin believes government's "biblically and constitutionally defined role" is to hold women criminally liable for nature taking its course in the early days of a pregnancy.

(Photo of Rep. Franklin with Miss Cobb County 2010 via Rep. Franklin's Facebook page)