Congressman Loudermilk’s defense of Georgia’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ abortion ban makes no sense

Rep. Barry Loudermilk said his state's ban on nearly all abortions balances "women's liberties."

JOSH ISRAEL
MAY 8, 2019, 9:08 AM

A day after Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) signed a law banning nearly all abortions in the state, Rep. Barry Loudermilk (R-GA) praised the bill, saying it was logical because doctors in hospitals take patients’ pulses to check for signs of life.

The law, HB 481, prohibits virtually all abortion after the time when a physician can first detect cardiac activity — as early as six weeks’ gestation — long before many people even know they’re pregnant and well before a fetus is actually viable outside the womb, which is usually between 24 and 28 weeks. It also grants embryos and fetuses the same legal rights — including tax deductions — as other “natural persons.”

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Loudermilk, a former information technology services business owner with no medical degree, was first elected to Congress in 2014 after embracing the belief that “human life begins at conception and deserves legal protection at every stage until natural death.” He told Fox News on Wednesday that the new law is an “incredible piece of legislation” with a “balance between the protecting of a woman’s liberties but more importantly providing a path for unborn children that are alive to be able to experience life.”

The Georgia Republican then attempted to justify the law’s scientifically questionable reliance on the detectable heartbeat standard based on the notion that dead people no longer have a pulse.

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