“I applaud the good folks of Georgia for challenging the culture of death and championing life at all stages.The Georgia Personhood Amendment is a reflection of a growing pro-life sentiment across the country and points toward a post-Roe era. I hope that the state legislature moves quickly to pass this amendment so that it can go before the voters in Georgia.” –

“The Human  Life Amendment provides Georgia with the best legal means of overturning the central holding of Roe v Wade. At the very least, it ensures that Georgia immediately becomes a pro-life state the moment the shackles of Roe are broken. For too long the pro-life movement has been dominated by a strategy of “wait”– too fearful of losing to risk winning. The adoption of this amendment will place Georgia at the forefront of the battle to restore the sanctity of innocent human life. I applaud Georgia’s pro-life citizens and their elected representatives for having the courage of their convictions.”

~ Richard Thompson
President & Chief Counsel
Thomas More Law Center

The Personhood Amendment

In March of 2007, a bi-partisan group of Georgia legislators offered the nation’s first “Paramount Right to Life” Amendment, H.R. 536. If successful, Georgia will become the first “Pro-life” state in the nation establishing the “personhood” of each of its citizens from fertilization until natural death.

Using language provided by the Thomas More Law Center, an advocacy group for pro-life causes, H.R. 536 states:

“Paramount right to life. (a) The rights of every person shall be recognized, among which in the first place is the inviolable right of every innocent human being to life. The right to life is the paramount and most fundamental right of a person.
(b) With respect to the fundamental and inalienable rights of all persons guaranteed in this Constitution, the word ‘person’ applies to all human beings, irrespective of age, race, sex, health, function, or condition of dependency, including unborn children at every state of their biological development, including fertilization.”

“It is time that the citizens of Georgia be able to speak decisively to this most fundamental right” says Daniel Becker, President of Georgia Right to Life (GRTL). “When is a person a ‘person’ under the laws of our State and therefore entitled to protection under the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? Let’s let Georgians decide… not the state Supreme Court. I commend this bi-partisan effort to protect all of Georgia’s citizens… all the time.”

“Two important pro-life objectives would be effected by this amendment to our state constitution,” says  Becker. “It establishes and affirms in principle that Georgia is a ‘pro-life’ state that seeks to protect all human life from fertilization as a matter of constitutional law; and it provides a direct challenge to the central holding of Roe v. Wade.” 410 U.S. 113 (1973). “In the Roe v. Wade decision, Justice Harry Blackmun wrote that, ‘(If the) suggestion of personhood [of the preborn] is established, the [abortion rights] case, of course, collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed specifically by the [14th] Amendment.’” Becker concludes, “Thus, the personhood of the preborn child is the single point on which the entire debate turns.”