Atlanta Group Opposes Abortion Bill ATLANTA, GA (WABE) - HouseBill 1155 is controversial and that's something even the newly elected house speaker David Ralston realizes.
He says the bill definelty needs to be reviewed,"it sounds like a very deep subject and I would like to read the bill before I comment on that"

The bill was introduced as the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act and the main framework of the bill would make it a crime to coerce or solicit an abortion based on race. Penalties would include jail time and fines depending on the severity of the offense.

Supporters of the bill, such as Georgia Right to Life, claim the state's abortion rate points to a deliberate attempt to target black women. However, Heidi Williamson calls that deceptive and makes this counter claim, "they (Georgia Right To Life) make the assertion that Georgia has the highest rate but a lot of women come from other parts of the southeasst and for example if a woman can't get an appointment in the one facility in Mississippi."

Williamson is the National Policy Coordinator for Sister Song.
The Atlanta based group defines itself as Women of Color Reproductive Health Collective. She says another mistruth being circulated is that Georgia's 15 abortion centers are all in black neighborhoods so the group did its own research,"we pulled the demographics of each zip code and only four fall into neighborhoods that actually have a 50 percent population of black people or more."

Williamson says that finding was part of a fact sheet Sister Song presented to members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus.
They say that was to counter information previously presented by supporters of the bill.
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