Every human person has the right to life and deserves equal protection under the law.
We should never discriminate against a class of people based upon their size, level of development, environment, or degree of dependency. All human life is made in the Image of God and has dignity worth protecting.
This concept is a fundamental pillar of a fair and just legal system. Though often ignored, it is in fact enshrined into both the national and Georgia constitutions.
Take a look at the Fourteenth Amendment of the American Constitution: “nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” Likewise, the Georgia Constitution has a similar clause: Article I, Section I, Paragraph II states, “No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws.”
Despite both national and state constitutions explicitly stating each person’s legal right to life, more than 65 million American children have been murdered in the womb since 1973. That number has continued to grow across the US, including in this state, during the years following the 2022 Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Healthcare Organization.
What is “Equal Protection?”
Equal Protection for the preborn is applying the same laws that protect born people to equally apply and protect preborn people. Sadly, this important ideal has been blatantly disregarded in our day.
The only differences in preborn people and those living outside the womb are (1) size, (2) level of development, (3) environment, and (4) degree of dependency. These are also the same differences shared by a toddler and senior citizen or a teenager and adult.
How does Equal Protection Work in the Existing Legal System?
Equal Protection for the preborn neither creates new laws nor criminalizes a class of people. It simply applies the existing laws to people inside the womb which fulfills Equal Protection Under the Law.
When a person is murdered, our laws demand that all culpable parties involved face justice. The level of culpability for each party varies, but nonetheless all culpable parties are lawfully prosecuted. When a person inside the womb is murdered by abortion, our current laws do not equally apply, and all or some culpable parties are treated with impunity. Supporting Equal Protection for the preborn would mean that all culpable parties are rightly brought to justice.
Perfect Mercy is Perfect Justice
Opponents of Equal Protection often fear that it would place mothers into a criminal class, but nothing could be more false. Equal Protection for the preborn does not criminalize a class of people in the same way that our current murder laws do not criminalize a class of people. Whoever is involved in the murder of a preborn person will face justice, the same justice that guilty parties of murdered victims outside of the womb face.
Are there times when someone is involved in a murder but is not fully culpable? Sure. And those are cases where a just legal system does not punish said person to the full extent of the law since he or she had reduced culpability. Likewise, some mothers are coerced by force or fear and do not fully consent to the murder of their child. Equal Protection of the preborn would treat that mother in a similar way that it treats any person involved in murder who did not willfully consent to it.
Retribution?
Erroneously, opponents have assumed that Equal Protection will cause retroactive legal action against women who have had abortions in the past. It is unconstitutional for Congress or any state to pass ex post facto laws according to Article I, Sections 9 and 10 of the Constitution. Simply put, retroactively punishing people for committing acts that were legal at the time they were committed is unconstitutional and has never been written into the text of Equal Protection bills.
Miscarriages?
Death by natural causes are not required to be examined, and many of us personally know loved ones that have died and never required a medical examination, let alone a criminal investigation. According to the Journal of Missouri State Medical Association, “approximately 20% of deaths in the U.S. fall under medical examiner/coroner (ME/C) jurisdiction” (Tatsumi and Graham 2022). In other words, 80% of deaths do not warrant a medical examination, and definitely do not call for a criminal investigation.
Right to Life for All
The legal foundation of Equal Protection is abundantly clear, so it follows that the law must be properly applied to all people, both outside and inside the womb. We should never deny Equal Protection Under the Law for people because of erroneous claims. Georgia Right to Life boldly advocates Equal Protection for all human persons.
For more on this topic, you can read about HB-441, also known as the Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection, which could potentially end legalized abortion in the state of Georgia: https://grtl.org/georgia-hb-441-a-monumental-step-toward-ending-legalized-abortion-in-georgia/
Sources:
Death Investigation in the United States: Forensic Pathology – PMC (nih.gov)
The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription | National Archives
Statistics for Total Abortions Since 1973
Javid Ona
Georgia Right to Life
Education Coordinator