HB 347: Georgia Pro-Birth Accountability Act; enact

Georgia currently bans most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detectable. This bill responds by creating a new chapter of state law (O.C.G.A. Title 31) that lets a pregnant woman who says she would have chosen abortion but for that law file an affidavit with the Department of Human Services and become entitled to state compensation. That compensation covers living, medical, legal, and psychological expenses tied to pregnancy and birth; automatic eligibility for programs like TANF and SNAP through the child's 18th birthday; a trained home-visit nurse through the child's second birthday; funeral costs if the woman or child dies; disability-related medical costs; lifelong care costs if the child has a congenital condition; health insurance for the child until 18; child support in certain cases; and a funded 529 college savings account. The Department of Human Services would assign case managers to monitor each woman monthly, and the General Assembly would set up a separate fund to pay for it all. The bill does not state an effective date beyond standard enactment.

• Creates a new chapter of Georgia law (O.C.G.A. Title 31, Chapter 9C) entitling women compelled to give birth under the heartbeat law to state compensation.
• Requires the Department of Human Services to process affidavits from pregnant women and assign case managers who conduct monthly prenatal visits and post-birth check-ins.
• Grants automatic eligibility for TANF, SNAP, and WIC benefits that cannot be reduced or suspended until the child turns 18.
• Provides for funeral costs, disability-related medical expenses, and lifelong care costs if the child is born with a congenital abnormality or disability.
• Requires the state to fund child health, dental, and vision insurance until age 18 and a fully funded 529 college savings account for the child.
• Directs the General Assembly to create a separate state fund to pay for all the compensation and related administrative costs.

Pregnant women in Georgia who say they would have sought an abortion but for the state's fetal heartbeat law, their children, the Department of Human Services and its caseworkers and nurses, and the General Assembly, which must appropriate money into a new dedicated fund.

If enacted, women affected by Georgia's heartbeat abortion law could receive extensive state-funded support, including medical care, cash benefits, child support, and college savings, potentially changing the financial and caregiving burden of a compelled pregnancy and requiring new state spending and administrative capacity.

• Section 1 names the act the 'Georgia Pro-Birth Accountability Act.'
• New Code Section 31-9C-1 entitles a woman compelled to carry a pregnancy to term due to the heartbeat law to state compensation.
• New Code Section 31-9C-2 lists eleven categories of compensation, including medical expenses, tax credit eligibility, nurse home visits, public assistance, funeral costs, disability care, child support, and a 529 education savings account.
• New Code Section 31-9C-3(a) requires a woman to file an affidavit with the Department of Human Services stating she would have terminated the pregnancy but for the heartbeat law, filed any time between detection of a heartbeat and birth.
• New Code Section 31-9C-3(a)(2) requires the Department of Human Services to assign a case manager who meets monthly with the woman and conducts post-birth visits.
• New Code Section 31-9C-3(b) directs the General Assembly to create a separate fund, apart from the general fund, to pay for the compensation and program costs.
• Section 3 repeals conflicting laws.

1. 2025-02-12House Second Readers (House)
2. 2025-02-11House First Readers (House)
3. 2025-02-10House Hopper (House)

• Dar'shun Kendrick (D, HD-095)Primary sponsor

• abortion law
• fetal heartbeat law
• public assistance
• child support
• Department of Human Services