The 2010 legislative session was one of the longest sessions in history with balancing the state budget being the overriding issue. With the economy where it is, and state revenues in free fall, the state is in a fiscal crisis. Despite these budget woes, some members of the Georgia General Assembly continued to focus their energies on using race as a wedge issue to further restrict or ban abortion and to allow insurance companies to eliminate currently mandated health care coverage.
Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) and its supporters pressured legislators to pass an extremely troublesome and constitutionally problematic race and sex abortion ban. The bill exploited women of color and reflected an agenda not rooted in a sincere concern for the African American community. GRTL was conspicuously absent when it came to supporting prevention initiatives that would reduce the number of unintended pregnancies and increase healthy birth outcomes. Real concern would have come in the form of support for the services that benefit all women and families in Georgia.
Planned Parenthood is committed to providing every woman with the full range of quality, affordable reproductive health care with a strong focus on preventive care. We continue to challenge politicians to work with Planned Parenthood to assure quality health care services are available to all Georgians – regardless of race, location, or economic status.
Prevention Initiative Funded:
“Planning for Healthy Babies” Medicaid Waiver
Beginning in January 2011, the Department of Community Health is planning to implement a Planning for Healthy Babies program that is designed to address Georgia’s unacceptably high rate of low birth weight infants. The goal this legislative session was to be sure that the appropriate level of state funding was included in the FY 2011 budget to implement the program. This program will be funded by a federally matched Family Planning Medicaid Expansion Waiver. We are thrilled to report that there is $1,275,000 in the approved budget for the waiver. This is the 10% state funding required to draw down a 90% match of $11,475,000 in federal funds for a total of $12,750,000 for this expansion.
The Medicaid family planning waiver will allow Georgia to provide family planning services to women at a higher income level than Georgia’s program traditionally allows for women who are not pregnant. This type of waiver program has been implemented in 27 states, and has proven to yield great savings. Obtaining a Family Planning Waiver in Georgia has been something that PPSE has been worked diligently with coalition partners to achieve for over a decade. This prevention initiative will decrease the number of unintended pregnancies, increase healthy birth outcomes and makes economic sense for the state.
Abortion Access:
House Bill 1155 (HB 1155 – Loudermilk) and Senate Bill 529 (SB 529 – Pearson) – Sex and Race Selection Abortion Ban: Both HB 1155 and SB 529 were measures which anti-choice activists falsely asserted were necessary on the grounds that abortion providers throughout the state are coercing women into having abortions based on race and sex selection, assertions that are both false and inflammatory. The House version passed out of the Judiciary Non-Civil committee and the next day it was “recommitted” by the Rules Committee and sent back to the committee.
Since HB 1155 stalled in the House, Senator Chip Pearson introduced SB 529 and it was put on the fast track to make it to the Senate floor for a vote on “crossover day”. The Senate employed unsavory tactics (no public notice and employing the “hawk” system) to pass this bill out of committee. During the nearly 3 hour Senate floor debate there was a motion to table the bill and three amendments were offered. Ultimately all of these amendments failed and the bill passed on a vote of 32-15.
The bill was then assigned to the House Judiciary Committee, during the first hearing testimony was heard but no vote was taken. A few days later the bill was voted out of committee. House Speaker David Ralston (R-Blue Ridge) crafted a more moderate substitute version of the bill on the 39th day of the session that eliminated criminal penalties for doctors and included anti-coercion language as well as the federal Nelson language banning federal funds from paying for abortion services under health insurance exchanges.
Thankfully, the measure died in the House Rules Committee due to a stalemate between pro-life Republicans regarding the best way to proceed. To make the victory even sweeter, Georgia Right to Life reportedly dug in their heels in the final hours because they believed that their nemesis Planned Parenthood was working in partnership with Speaker Ralston!
Access to Health Care:
Senate Bill 309 (SB 309 – Judson Hill), Senate Bill 407 (SB 407 – Judson Hill) and House Bill 1184 (HB 1184 – Ramsey) – Insurance; authorize the purchase of health insurance policies from out-of-state insurers: These bills in one form or another would have allowed individuals to purchase out of state health insurance plans that would NOT be required to offer coverage mandated in Georgia law. They would have eliminated important health insurance protections which the General Assembly has adopted over the past decade like prescriptions for contraception, screening for Chlamydia, mammograms, treatment for complications during pregnancy, hospital stays for newborns, prostate cancer screenings and more. SB 309 was assigned to the Insurance and Labor Committee and died there. Both SB 407 and HB 1184 passed out of their respect chambers on crossover day after much debate. SB 407 was passed by substitute which included consumer protections and then those protections were stripped out before it passed out of the House Insurance Committee. HB 1184 version did NOT include consumer protections and passed out of the Senate Insurance and Labor Committee. Both bills died in the Rules Committee.
What Can You Do To Help?
It will be the strength of our voices that will ensure that our side prevails. Make sure you are informed. Sign up for Planned Parenthood’s Action Network (PPAN) at www.plannedparenthood.org/ppse; then click “Take Action.” Through PPAN you’ll be able to take direct action and voice your opinion to your elected officials on critical issues.
| Legislative Contacts: | |
| Nikema Williams
404.567.8310 Nikema.Williams@ppfa.org |
Mary Beth Pierucci
404.567.8329 MaryBeth.Pierucci@ppfa.org |
