Is a fetus a person? An anti-abortion strategy says yes

The Georgia law declares that the “unborn” are entitled to 14th Amendment protection. It also codifies assertions that the scientific literature does not support: for instance, that a fetus has a heartbeat at six weeks of pregnancy and can feel pain at 20 weeks. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists disputes both.

State Representative Ed Setzler, a Republican and chief sponsor of the bill, accused critics of being “bomb throwers.” In an interview, he noted the ban does not apply when an abortion is done to clear a miscarriage or ectopic pregnancy, or in cases where a fetus has a “profound and irremediable” genetic condition “that is incompatible with sustaining life after birth.”

The fetus of an immigrant woman, he said, would not be eligible for benefits because it is not eligible for citizenship under federal law.

This month, Georgia’s Department of Revenue set the exemption at $3,000 per pregnancy for fetuses after about six weeks of gestation. All told, Mr. Setzler said he anticipated the new benefits to unborn children and pregnant women would cost the state somewhere between $18 million and $20 million a year.

“It’s a balance between the liberty interest of the mother and the life interest of the unborn child,” he said. “Show a 4D sonogram of 10 weeks along to a classroom of fourth graders and ask them what they’re seeing. They know: It’s a baby.”