ABORTION
GRTL opposes abortion at any point of gestation, as it destroys a living, growing human life. In the rare case that the mother’s life is indeed endangered by a continuation of the pregnancy, sound medical practice would dictate that every effort be made to save both lives. GRTL supports an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which would guarantee the right to life of all persons from the moment of fertilization until natural death.

ADOPTION
GRTL supports adoption as one possible, positive solution for a woman bearing a child she is unable to rear. We support legislation designed to facilitate the adoption process, thus making it easier to place children with eligible couples.

AMNIOCENTESIS
GRTL recognizes the many positive values of these procedures though we also acknowledge the medical fact that these tests can cause a miscarriage. In addition, we oppose any non-therapeutic, prenatal diagnosis for non-treatable genetic disorders and handicaps if the results of the diagnosis lead to abortion.

BIRTH CONTROL
GRTL takes no position on birth control methods, which are contraceptive rather than abortive in their actions. We are opposed to those birth control methods which act as abortifacients. These could include forms of the pill which act to prevent implantation of the newly formed human into the lining of the womb; forms of the IUD, which can act the same; and prostaglandin suppository drugs, which act to cause delivery of whatever size baby the uterus contains.

CAPITAL PUNISHMENT
GRTL takes no position on capital punishment. Those in the pro-life movement who oppose the taking of a life by capital punishment do so on grounds similar to their opposition to abortion; that is, that all life is sacred. Others consider the crucial difference to be “due process of the law”: a criminal is found guilty through due process, whereas an unborn child killed in abortion has been denied the same.

CHILD ABUSE
GRTL abhors child abuse but rejects abortion as a means of preventing unwanted, battered children. Studies have shown that up to 91% of battered children were planned pregnancies. Child abuse is a medical, legal, social, moral, and psychological problem for the family, and it will require the involvement of all those disciplines to arrive at a solution.

CONDOM
See BIRTH CONTROL and SCHOOL-BASED CLINICS.

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
GRTL asserts the need for a Constitutional amendment, which would annul the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and return to the people the power to protect all human life, from fertilization until natural death. We note that constitutional amendments are not self-enforcing, so legislation will be necessary to mandate the protection empowered by a Human Life Amendment. On the other hand, legislation without such an Amendment is not assured of being a permanent solution.

CONTRACEPTIVE DISTRIBUTION
See BIRTH CONTROL and SCHOOL-BASED CLINICS.

ECOLOGY
GRTL views human beings as producers and problem solvers rather than mere consumers and problems. We accept the conclusion of experts who find the earth’s resources and agricultural lands capable of supporting 2 to 10 times the earth’s present population.

EQUAL RIGHTS AMENDMENT
GRTL is opposed to an ERA that constitutional experts expect would protect the “right” to abortion created in 1973 and even promote a broader range of abortion “rights.” We do oppose discrimination, which leads to death on the basis of sex, age, race, condition, religion, and place of residence, whether it be intra- or extra-uterine.

EUGENICS
GRTL, while recognizing the possible benefits of genetic screening for couples at risk of chromosomal abnormalities, opposes genetic screening or eugenics programs for the identification of non-treatable, genetically defective children if the testing results lead to abortion.

EUTHANASIA
GRTL supports the position taken by the National Right to Life Committee, Inc., (NRLC), which reads in part:

“The NRLC…opposes the intentional killing of a dependent human being for his or her alleged benefit whether by active intervention or by omitting treatment. We approve the accepted medical practice of administering pain-relieving drugs in whatever dose necessary to alleviate the suffering of a terminally ill patient as long as there is no intent to administer or to withhold treatment from a patient in order to bring about or hasten the patient’s death.”

We do not oppose the withdrawal of inappropriate treatment, which serves only to prolong the act of dying when there is irrefutable evidence that biological death is imminent.

Regarding “death legislation,” GRTL supports the position taken by the National Right to Life Committee, Inc., in its statement of January 21, 1980:

The predictable outcome of so called “death with dignity,” “right to die, “living will,” or “natural death” acts has been a growing legal and social acceptance of euthanasia.

Even though a very ill patient may become unable to take part in medical decision-making, the legal doctrine of proxy or substitute consent has been abused to justify killing those who are not legally competent. No legislature should authorize the surrender of a patient’s right to life to an agent, committee, or court.

FETAL EXPERIMENTATION
GRTL opposes any fetal experimentation, which requires or results in the death of an unborn child. We do not oppose experiments, done with parental consent, which do no harm to the unborn child or the mother, and which are done to further medical knowledge.

FETICIDE
GRTL supports Georgia’s current law, which criminalizes any intentional, negligent or illegal activity that harms a pregnant woman and results in the death of her unborn child.

FETOSCOPY
GRTL recognizes the many positive values of these procedures though we also acknowledge the medical fact that these tests can cause a miscarriage. In addition, we oppose any non-therapeutic, prenatal diagnosis for non-treatable genetic disorders and handicaps if the results of the diagnosis lead to abortion.

GENETIC SCREENING
GRTL, while recognizing the possible benefits of genetic screening for couples at risk of chromosomal abnormalities, opposes genetic screening or eugenics programs for the identification of non-treatable, genetically defective children if the testing results lead to abortion.

HUMAN CLONING
GRTL strongly advocates for the passage of tightly written legislation at the national and state level that will permanently ban all human cloning including research on embryos. If human cloning proceeds, our minds can conjure up many scenarios of abuse of human cloning as our society creates human beings not in God’s own image but in our own.

Human cloning is an inherent violation of human dignity. As with abortion and assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization, human cloning denies the most fundamental of human rights – the right to life. The research process inevitably requires scientists to destroy and discard their ‘failed’ experiments. For example, it took 277 attempts at cell manipulation and 29 embryo implants before the sheep, Dolly, was produced.

Cloning would further violate human dignity by denying the intrinsic value and uniqueness of each human life, thereby viewing human beings as products or commodities. For this same reason we already oppose surrogate parenting contracts, genetic screening of embryos before uterine implanting and sex selection abortion. Cloning could not possibly respect the intrinsic value of the person created, because a cloned person will not be created simply for their value as a person. There will always be an intended and specific utility attached to a cloned person because he or she was created with a particular genetic make-up for some purpose.

Any action taken to create or destroy human beings based on their genetic qualities denies their intrinsic value. better served to encourage the scientific community to direct its knowledge and efforts in ways that will help all mankind, and not in ways of being the instruments of destruction and death.

ILLEGAL ACTIVITIES
GRTL board members, employees, chapter officers, and chairpersons are prohibited from participating in illegal activities around the issues for which we are organized. As an organization, we will not encourage, condone, or participate in illegal activity of any kind, nor are we affiliated with any organization or person involved in pro-life related illegal activities. We do promote and participate in legal and peaceful pickets, marches, rallies, and similar activities.

INCEST/RAPE
GRTL opposes abortion for pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. Whereas we understand the trauma involved in such situations, the unborn child conceived is no less human than one conceived under more favorable conditions. In the case of rape, we assert the need to educate women to seek immediate medical attention after they are victimized. Instead of the further violence of abortion, we believe women should be provided with compassionate, competent emotional and health care. In the case of incest, we stress the need to help the entire family correct the situation, which led to the pregnancy. Again, the unborn child is an innocent party and should not be destroyed as a ”solution” to all the complex problems involved.

INFANTICIDE
As an extension of our opposition to abortion, GRTL opposes the killing of newborn infants either directly or by withholding necessary care for their survival. We are devoted to the protection of all human life regardless of the age or stages of that life.

INFORMED CONSENT
Until our goal of total protection for the unborn is reached, GRTL supports legislation designed to help a woman make a decision concerning abortion which is based upon full knowledge of the development of her unborn child, the physical and psychological complications which could result from the abortion, and the availability of alternatives to abortion.

INVITRO FERTILIZATION
While GRTL empathizes with the many couples who turn to IVF as a treatment for infertility, we caution that some commonly used procedures surrounding this practice can cause the deaths of children at the embryonic stage. Any IVF procedure which leads to the destruction of human life at any level of development is opposed by GRTL. To protect both mothers and children, GRTL calls for parents undergoing the in vitro process to limit the number of human embryos created in a single cycle to the number to be transferred in that cycle. In IVF, as in any other means of procreation, the responsibility of parents to protect and nurture their children begins at fertilization.

LEGISLATING MORALITY
GRTL is committed to restoring legal, moral protection of unborn human life. We maintain that laws are to make for the common good and the effective attainment of human values. To establish protection for all human life, legislation is necessary and civilized. Currently, the law of the land reflects the morality of the abortion advocate, and the people must ultimately choose between the morality of abortion on demand and the morality of the right to life.

LEGISLATION
GRTL asserts the need for a Constitutional amendment, which would annul the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion and return to the people the power to protect all human life, from fertilization until natural death. We note that constitutional amendments are not self-enforcing, so legislation will be necessary to mandate the protection empowered by a Human Life Amendment. On the other hand, legislation without such an Amendment is not assured of being a permanent solution.

LIVING WILLS
See EUTHANASIA.

MARCH OF DIMES
GRTL supports the boycott of the March of Dimes (MOD) that the pro-life movement put into place over 25 years ago. The MOD does not pay for abortions, however they have failed to discourage mid-trimester testing, which has resulted in the aborted deaths of children. More recently the MOD has refused to tighten their policy on fetal tissue research. There is a pro-life alternative to the MOD called the Michael Fund.

NUCLEAR ENERGY
GRTL takes no position on nuclear energy. War, if justified, must be done so on the basis of self-defense.

PARENTAL NOTIFICATION/CONSENT
Until our goal of total protection for the unborn is reached, GRTL supports legislation requiring parental notification and consent before an abortion is performed on a minor child. The involvement of the family could be crucial to helping the girl in such a stressful time when she is making decisions regarding a problem pregnancy.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD
GRTL urges the public to object to Planned Parenthood’s anti-life activities. Whereas this organization may have many worthwhile goals and activities, it is ideologically and financially committed to abortion ”rights” and has been a leader in the pro-abortion movement.

POPULATION CONTROL
GRTL views human beings as producers and problem solvers rather than mere consumers and problems. We accept the conclusion of experts who find the earth’s resources and agricultural lands capable of supporting 2 to 10 times the earth’s present population.

PRO-FAMILY ISSUES
GRTL takes no position on those issues, which do not have a direct bearing on the threats to human life such as abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide. As individuals, GRTL members are concerned about many issues, including those, which affect the family; many of our members have differing views on these issues. However, we in Georgia Right To Life are united in our belief that the right to life of every individual should be protected by law and society.

PUBLIC FUNDING OF ABORTIONS
Because GRTL is opposed to abortion; we also oppose the use of tax dollars to pay for abortions, abortion research, and activities, which could encourage abortion as a ”solution” to problem pregnancies. (The same policy is held in regard to euthanasia and infanticide.)

QUALITY OF LIFE
GRTL rejects the notion that a person’s quality of life is a measure of the person’s humanity and embraces the sanctity of human life ethic as the basis of each person’s inalienable right to life.

RAPE/INCEST
GRTL opposes abortion for pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. Whereas we understand the trauma involved in such situations, the unborn child conceived is no less human than one conceived under more favorable conditions. In the case of rape, we assert the need to educate women to seek immediate medical attention after they are victimized. Instead of the further violence of abortion, we believe women should be provided with compassionate, competent emotional and health care. In the case of incest, we stress the need to help the entire family correct the situation, which led to the pregnancy. Again, the unborn child is an innocent party and should not be destroyed as a ”solution” to all the complex problems involved.

RU 486
GRTL opposes the RU 486/prostaglandin abortion technique because it kills unborn babies whose hearts have begun to beat and has injured, and even killed, women. We do not oppose testing for non-abortion related purposes, though at this time the powerful synthetic steroid RU 486 has had no proven use, other than abortion, that other drugs could not likewise provide. We also join with numerous other pro-life groups in supporting the boycott of the company, Danco, which produces and distributes the drug.

SCHOOL BASED CLINICS
GRTL opposes establishing school based clinics (SBC) that exploit the school’s authority to funnel a captive clientele of pregnant teenage girls to abortionists without involving the girls’ parents in the decision. In addition to providing confidential abortion counseling and referrals, many SBC’s promote abortion in sex education. Studies by SBC proponents show that SBC’s do not reduce the incidence of teenage pregnancy.

SEX EDUCATION
GRTL takes no stand on who should teach children about sexuality. However, we oppose the inclusion of abortion, forms of the IUD, and some birth control pills, which are abortifacient, rather than contraceptive, as methods of birth control in sex education courses. We also assert the need to teach the sanctity of human life from fertilization until natural death, and object to teaching abortion as an option in cases of teenage pregnancy.

SINGLE ISSUE VOTING
GRTL recognizes that single issue voting has long been a tradition in American politics (e.g., groups concerned with such issues as unions, gun control, farm price supports, and the environment have worked together to support their cause and their candidate). The pro-life position on candidates for public office, as summarized by Jack Willke, M.D., former President of the National Right To Life Committee, Inc., is: A pro-life position, taken alone, does not qualify a person for public office. A pro-abortion position, however, definitely disqualifies a candidate from holding public office.

SPOUSAL NOTIFICATION
GRTL supports legislation requiring that a husband be notified when his wife is about to have an abortion. The husband may have personal and compelling interests in the future of his unborn child and has a right to be consulted before such irreversible action as abortion is taken.

STEM CELL RESEARCH
GRTL supports research that can save lives of human beings without causing harm to other lives. Stem cell research where adult stem cells, cord blood, or other sources are used receive the support of GRTL. We oppose all forms of research where living human embryos are destroyed; this includes destructive embryonic stem cell research, as well as fetal tissue research.

UNITED WAY
GRTL takes no position concerning United Way agencies, which do not support organizations, which promote, refer for, or provide abortions. We do oppose volunteering or donating money to United Way agencies, which support such groups as Planned Parenthood, one of America’s largest abortion providers (see PLANNED PARENTHOOD).

VIOLENCE
GRTL is committed to preserving innocent human lives, which are subject to termination, by society simply because of their state of existence. Whether these are unborn, handicapped, aged, or subject to any demeaning category or classification, we will seek to accomplish this objective through the fullest use of any legal means available. GRTL is opposed to violence, in or out of the womb, and condemns any violence directed against persons and property, either in pursuit of the objectives we seek, or in the pursuit of broader objectives of our society.

WAR/NUCLEAR ENERGY
War, if justified, must be done so on the basis of self-defense. GRTL takes no position on nuclear energy.