HB441: HB441 Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act; enact

This bill rewrites several parts of Georgia's criminal and civil law dealing with unborn children. It changes the state's coercion defense (O.C.G.A. § 16-3-26) so that defense normally cannot be used against a murder charge, but carves out an exception: a mother charged with murder involving her unborn child could still argue she was coerced into the act. The bill also creates a new law, the 'Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act' (O.C.G.A. § 16-5-6), defining a human being to include an unborn child from fertilization until birth, and applying homicide statutes to unborn children with the same defenses used for born victims, except for lifesaving medical procedures or spontaneous miscarriage. It gives the Attorney General authority alongside local prosecutors to bring these cases. It also rewrites the assault and battery statutes covering unborn children, and it changes wrongful death law (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-1) so a family's right to recover for the death of an unborn child begins at fertilization rather than when a heartbeat is detectable.

• Limits the general coercion defense so it cannot be used against a murder charge, except when the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the child's mother.
• Creates a new law, the 'Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act,' defining 'human being' to include an unborn child at every stage from fertilization until birth for purposes of homicide law.
• Applies existing homicide defenses, justifications, and immunities to cases involving an unborn child, while excluding unintentional death from lifesaving medical procedures or a spontaneous miscarriage.
• Gives the Attorney General authority, alongside local prosecuting attorneys, to prosecute cases under the new prenatal homicide law and to employ peace officers to investigate them.
• Rewrites the assault and battery statutes covering unborn children (O.C.G.A. §§ 16-5-28 and 16-5-29), keeping exceptions for legal abortions, medical treatment, and a pregnant woman herself.
• Moves the starting point for a family's right to sue over the wrongful death of an unborn child from the point of a detectable heartbeat to the point of fertilization.

The bill affects pregnant women and mothers who could face murder, assault, or battery charges connected to an unborn child; prosecutors and the Attorney General's office, which would gain new investigative and prosecutorial authority; medical providers performing abortions or treating pregnant patients; and families seeking to sue over the death of an unborn child.

By defining human life as beginning at fertilization under homicide law and changing when wrongful death claims can start, the bill could affect how prosecutors charge cases involving pregnancy loss or abortion, and how courts treat lawsuits over the death of an unborn child at very early stages of pregnancy.

• Section 2 revises the coercion defense (O.C.G.A. § 16-3-26) so it cannot be used against a murder charge unless the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the child's mother.
• Section 3 creates O.C.G.A. § 16-5-6, the 'Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act,' defining 'human being' to include an unborn child from fertilization until birth.
• Section 3 exempts from the homicide law unintentional death of an unborn child from lifesaving medical procedures for the mother or a spontaneous miscarriage.
• Section 3 gives prosecuting attorneys and the Attorney General concurrent authority to prosecute cases under the new section, and lets the Attorney General employ peace officers to investigate.
• Section 3 states the new law applies only prospectively, not to acts committed before the bill's effective date.
• Sections 4 and 5 rewrite the assault and battery statutes on unborn children (O.C.G.A. §§ 16-5-28 and 16-5-29), retaining exceptions for legal abortions, medical treatment, and pregnant women regarding their own unborn child.
• Section 6 changes the wrongful death statute (O.C.G.A. § 19-7-1) so the right to recover for the death of an unborn child begins at fertilization rather than at a detectable heartbeat.

1. 2025-02-19House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-18House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-13House Hopper (House)

• Emory Dunahoo (R, HD-031)Primary sponsor
• Mike Cameron (R, HD-001)
• Charlice Byrd (R, HD-020)
• Danny Mathis (R, HD-133)
• Trey Kelley (R, HD-016)
• Martin Momtahan (R, HD-017)

• abortion law
• unborn child rights
• homicide law
• wrongful death claims
• prosecutorial authority