In a late-hour game of chicken, House Speaker David Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, on Tuesday rejected the Senate's weakening of House legislation that could set new limits on abortion, effectively stranding the bill.
Ralston blamed the Senate for putting House Bill 954 in jeopardy, something Senate leadership rejected.
"I am not sure they have the resolve to tackle this issue," Ralston said. "The House passed a very strong bill and the Senate chose to amend it, and they apparently have not shown in their insisting on their position any willingness to go back and reconsider the House position."
Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is president of the Senate, said: "I think anyone who knows my record knows I stand for life. The Senate is ready to take up this issue, and I'm ready to appoint conferees."
Because the Senate changed the bill, it had to go back to the House for approval. When Ralston disagreed with the changes, it was up to him to appoint members of the House to a conference committee. Cagle would appoint Senate members to the committee, which would have to hammer out a compromise that both chambers would have to vote on again.
HB 954 would have cut the time for elective abortions from 26 to 20 weeks, make it harder to get medical exceptions for abortion after 20 weeks, and require that medical extractions performed after 20 weeks be done in a way to produce a live birth. The bill made no exceptions in cases of rape or incest.
Senate amendments to the bill would have allowed abortions for "medically futile" pregnancies, giving a doctor a chance to abort a fetus with congenital or chromosomal defects.
The Senate also added language to protect doctors from civil suits brought as a result of the legislation.
Ralston said: "The Senate has been saying for the last couple of years they are a very pro-life body. We have given them an opportunity to step up to the plate and join with us this session. ... Now we are at the point where we can really pass and sign a bill that will save the lives of many unborn children in Georgia, and now they have decided to tuck and run."
Ralston said he would "think on" appointing conference committee members, but before doing so, he would look for signs from the Senate that it is willing to strengthen the bill.
Cagle said, "At this point, the ball is in the House's court to agree or disagree and allow a conference committee to be appointed."
Dan Becker, the president of Georgia Right to Life, which has lobbied for the bill, said pieces of legislation often get stuck in the waning hours of the session and he is not surprised but still hopeful. He preferred the House bill but would settle for the Senate amendments, he said. There is one more legislative workday on Thursday.
Sen. Renee Unterman, R-Buford, strongly supported the abortion bill as written by the House. She opposed the Senate amendments, although Unterman still voted for the changed bill Monday. She was not ready Tuesday to give up on passing it this year.
Unterman said, "It's a game of chess. And the game is not over until Thursday, whenever the lieutenant governor gavels us out," Unterman said. "I'm optimistic. There are many bills I've had to compromise on -- I've always taken the position that if you can't have your cake, you eat part of the cake. Nothing is dead until the last gavel."
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