It’s election season.
The issue of personhood, “the right to have unalienable God-given rights,” is of the utmost importance in this election cycle and the future of the nation.
Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) continuously works to incorporate personhood into legislation to secure the rights of the preborn. Personhood is subjected to attacks from every angle in this current culture war. Elective abortion and illicit medical research threaten the lives of the preborn, in vitro fertilization (IVF) and surrogacy attack the natural family, and euthanasia denies natural death.
These issues are like flaming arrows, and personhood is the ultimate target. To ensure that personhood is protected on every level, each citizen has the right to become informed about candidates and their policies on the matters within their responsibility.
Topics of Paramount Importance
Elective Abortion
Personhood is plagued by a plethora of issues daily. The most prominent point of attack on personhood is abortion, given that it destroys a living, growing human life.
Despite the overturning of Roe v. Wade in June 2022, elective abortions have continued to end thousands of preborn lives. The most recent statistics reveal a 1% increase in reported abortions in the state of Georgia from 2021 to 2022.
An estimate of over 35,000 preborn lives were claimed by elective abortion in Georgia in 2022, which is a higher death toll than the preceding year under Roe v. Wade. These numbers do not include the lives lost from chemical elective abortions, which accounted for 54% of all abortions in 2022.
Elective abortion is an active threat to preborn lives in Georgia and all across the nation. Over one million (1,037,000) elective abortions occurred in the U.S. healthcare system in 2023 alone.
Though we are living in the post-Roe Era, we cannot let down our guard. While some states are moving toward abortion bans, other states have removed restrictions, which has resulted in a 26% increase in elective abortions in those states.
IVF and Surrogacy
IVF has been utilized by couples who struggle with infertility, so it is often viewed as a compassionate procedure. However, we must recognize the practices of IVF can lead to the death of human life at the embryonic stage.
Not only has this practice led to the destruction of human life, but it has also been used to weaken the natural family.
IVF facilitates the practice of surrogacy and egg donation to provide same-sex couples with children. For instance, the Reproductive Science Center of New Jersey seeks to allow both women in a same-sex relationship to “participate in the pregnancy” by allowing one woman to supply the eggs and the other to carry the pregnancy. IVF treatments have now been prescribed to support unbiblical and unnatural family structures.
Furthermore, in-vitro fertilization technology is being used to perpetuate the lies and fantasies of transgenderism. While this may sound outlandish, the Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine provides information to trans-identifying men and women on their options for having children: IVF and surrogacy.
Infertility treatment, once seen as a compassionate advancement of technology, has been perverted to perpetuate threats to personhood and the natural family, both of which GRTL definitively opposes.
Euthanasia
Euthanasia defies natural death and prematurely ends human life. To bring about or hasten one’s death rejects personhood and the right to life.
While the practice of euthanasia is not legal in Georgia, several advocacy groups are lobbying to advance the cause.
MAID, or Medical Aid in Dying, will be pushed into the 2025 legislative cycle and evaluated by Georgia’s Council on Aging. Different advocacy groups are disguising the reality of euthanasia as “end-of-life options” or “compassionate care.”
Society is becoming increasingly desensitized to the inherent value of human life as the right to life is flippantly legislated and personhood is deteriorating.
Responsible Citizenship
Stay informed
As a voter, staying informed is paramount to preserving personhood. Know who will be on your ballot and the legislation or decisions they have endorsed or rejected. Carefully read which pieces of legislation each candidate has supported.
Examples of pro-personhood legislation from 2023 include HB 496 and HR 413. Further, anti-personhood language is found in HB 1, HB 75, SB 564, and SB 565.
A mere glance at the list of sponsors under each bill indicates where those politicians stand. Additionally, resources are available to help you remain mindful of the actions of our representatives on Capitol Hill.
Vote
Local, state, and national elections matter. Sizeable impacts can be realized at all levels.
Whether you are voting for Sheriff, County Commissioner, Congress people, or the President, vote in accordance with pro-life convictions. Since all rights are based on the right to life, there is no political issue more important than Personhood.
Contact your representatives
Considerable advancements to the pro-life movement begin at the local level. Communicating and meeting with your legislators is vital to provoke change.
Make sure to schedule meetings and conversations before the legislative session begins in January 2025. As constituents, you have the ability to influence your representatives by maintaining contact and holding them accountable.
Contact State Legislators | Georgia.gov
Freedom Index – The New American
GRTL PAC-Endorsed Candidates
The following list of political representatives has affirmed the pro-life principles held by GRTL and has agreed to pursue pro-life legislation to guard and protect the sanctity of life.
- Charlice Byrd – District 20
- Noah Harbuck – District 145
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Lisa Babbage – District 7
Conclusion: Life-saving Action
Georgia Right to Life endeavors to establish legislation that recognizes personhood from fertilization to natural death without exception.
We live in a society that has no regard for the sanctity of life. The secular practices that involve the slaughter of child and the deconstruction of the natural family have infiltrated legislation and desensitized the culture into obscurity.
As flaming arrows soar into the bullseye of personhood from every direction imaginable, life-saving action is crucial. A Personhood Amendment to the Georgia Constitution would provide insurmountable legal protection for all human life at every stage of development.
This is a life-and-death matter. Vote as though someone’s life depends on it.
Sources:
Abortion stats – Georgia and nationwide
- Abortion Reporting: Georgia (2022) – Lozier Institute
- OASIS Web Query – Maternal Child Health (MCH) – Induced Termination of Pregnancy (ITOP) Statistics
- https://www.guttmacher.org/article/2022/02/medication-abortion-now-accounts-more-half-all-us-abortions
- https://www.guttmacher.org/2024/03/despite-bans-number-abortions-united-states-increased-2023
IVF sources
Maddie Broome
Georgia Right to Life
Intern