Perhaps you haven’t noticed, but over the years the Georgia General Assembly has provided us a vast array of very entertaining and sometimes very bizarre legislative denizens.
One of the most memorable, a legislator from northeastern Georgia by the name of Ben Bridges, made a bit of national news in 2007.
The story is a bit convoluted, so try to follow the bouncing ball: A state representative from Texas named Warren Chisum circulated a memorandum to his fellow Texas House members with a cover letter saying he was distributing it at the behest of Rep. Ben Bridges from Georgia.
The memorandum was written by Marshall Hall, the president of the Fair Education Foundation Inc. In general terms (please sit down when you read this), Hall suggested there was now indisputable evidence that teaching evolution in public schools was the result of a conspiracy by Jews to discredit the Bible. It was later learned that Hall was married to Rep. Bridges’ campaign manager.
Things get even more amusing when you visit the Internet site of Marshall Hall’s Fair Education Foundation website at www.fixedearth.com. There, to your certain amazement and delight, you will find out that the Earth is standing dead still at the center of the universe.
What’s more, the Earth is NOT spinning on its axis. Instead, days and nights are caused by the sun rotating around the Earth, followed closely by every planet, moon and star in the heavens. Hall says this is so because the Bible says it is so.
Ben Bridges now has some company in his own little dark corner of the state Capitol in the person of Cobb County Republican Bobby Franklin. We will generously assume that Franklin accepts that the Earth does, in fact, revolve around the sun. We’re not sure, mind you, but were going to make that assumption.
We are sure that Franklin believes women who suffer miscarriages should be put in a position where they might have to prove they did nothing to cause that miscarriage or face charges for murder and possible execution.
Now, you’re probably thinking that I’ve blown an exhaust valve here. Read it for yourself in Franklin’s House Bill 1 — introduced, by the way, with no co-sponsors.
The purpose of the bill is to take what Franklin calls “prenatal murder” and make it a crime punishable by death. By “prenatal murder,” Mr. Franklin means abortion.
What you may not immediately realize is that Mr. Franklin is also referring to miscarriages. See line 114 of my copy of Franklin’s bill: “Prenatal murder means the intentional removal of a fetus from a woman with an intention other than to produce a live birth or to remove a dead fetus.”
On line 118 you’ll read that a miscarriage might also be prosecuted as prenatal murder if it can be shown that the pregnant woman took some action that might have played a role in the miscarriage.
In other words, if Bobby Franklin’s bill were to become law (not gonna happen) a woman who suffers the anguish of a miscarriage could be put in the position of having to prove that she did nothing whatsoever to cause that miscarriage or face a murder charge.
It could be argued that under Franklin’s bill, having a drink and then being involved in an accident causing a miscarriage could lead to the death penalty.
Mr. Bridges, may I introduce you to Mr. Franklin. Mr. Franklin, meet Mr. Bridges. Now, would you two please shake hands, form an alliance, and find a wilderness to wander in for the next 40 years and leave the legislating to rational adults.
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