It's January 2019 in Georgia and you're the
Republican party.
Rural hospitals are closing throughout the
state and infant mortality is rising despite
a strong economy buoyed in part by the film
industry.
They've threatened to boycott the agenda of
your party's radicals in the past, but at
the same time, these radical elements (with
the help of some electoral shenanigans) are
what carried your candidate for Governor,
Brian Kemp, to victory in the last election.
Do you: A - pivot to the center to gain support
from moderates and business interests?
Or B - double down on misogyny, hate and xenophobia
to appease your radical base?
The male-dominated Georgia Republican party
lost no time in trampling the rights of women
to protect their own political power.
The state senate weakened their rules regarding
internal investigation of sexual harassment.
Investigations will now be limited to claims
of harassment happening two years ago at the
latest; and those running for office can't
be investigated at all.
Renee Unterman was the only Republican to
vote against the rule change.
I cannot believe what is happening in this
body.
In the last couple of weeks, I have had sexual
harassment against me, and it's not a good
feeling.
We need these rules and regulations, we desperately
need them.
The next day, she was pulled from her leadership
position on the Health and Human Services
committee.
And now this woman, this female, has been
assigned as the chair of the Science and Technology
committee.
Well, I'm going from 121 bills, and that committee
in two years had 3 bills and 4 study committees.
I guess I don't have the correct skillset
anymore, I don't know what happened.
15 of the 56 Georgia Senators are women, and
as of this year, 7 of them were packed together
into one committee in particular, the Special
Judiciary Committee, with Democrat Jen Jordan
as Committee Chair.
But I have to say that after hearing everybody's
comment, it has become apparent that it was
not intended to be an honor.
So really, this is not about being a Democrat
or a Republican, it's about the fact that
I represent 200,000 people in the state just
like each and every one of you.
And I bring a skillset that can help this
body move forward.
If all you're going to do is put me in a committee
and not give me any legislation to actually
look at, shame on you!
This body has actually gone through the trouble
of eliminating two positions on the Judiciary
committee to keep these talented women off.
Both the Senators from the 6th and 48th, however,
have been assigned to the Special Judiciary
committee, a committee so poorly regarded
by the majority caucus that not a single one
of their members has any desire to be on it.
A committee that by all evidence exists solely
to warehouse Democrats and women, since it
is 90% female.
Ladies of the Senate: we are not the pitcher,
we're not the 1st baseman, we're not the 2nd
baseman, we're not the 3rd baseman.
We're not even in the outfield!
As a matter of fact, we're not even in the
ballpark.
We're outside!
We're outside, looking over a fence, and we're
climbing that fence, and we're trying to look
into the ballfield to see who's playing and
gosh knows to see what the score is.
Senator Unterman was given Chair of the Science
and Technology committee as something of a
consolation prize for losing the Chair of
Health and Human Services.
Did she have any important legislation go
through her committee?
Oh… oh wow...
The essence of the bill is this: abortion
is currently legal through 20 weeks gestation.
This bill would dial that back to 6 weeks.
If you haven't heard, HB 481 bans abortion
after 6 weeks, when a fetal heartbeat can
be detected.
This is before most women even know they're
pregnant, so it's essentially an outright
ban on abortion in defiance of Roe v Wade.
But, there's more.
It also includes embryos “at any stage of
development” in the state's population counts.
That means those who drafted this bill must
know that it's unconstitutional, and they
crafted it specifically to spark a debate
in the Supreme Court on fetal personhood.
According to the New Yok Times editorial board,
not only would a decision favoring fetal personhood
ban abortion, but “If a fetus is granted
equal rights, women who become pregnant may
find their most personal decisions coming
under state control.“
For example, could a pregnant woman smoking
cigarettes be prosecuted?
Many common birth control methods could be
criminalized if every fertilized egg is treated
as a full person.
At this time, the chair would like to recognize
the Senator from the 45th to speak to House
Bill 481.
After being sexually harassed and pulled from
the important Health and Human Services Committee,
Senator Unterman was given the task of introducing
HB 481 in the Senate.
We will not throw away these children who
are not perfect, because all children are
perfect in the eyes of God.
The bill was under constant protest by women
dressed as handmaids from the Handmaid's Tale.
It never occurred to me that I would need
to fight for rights over my own body in 2019.
No one should have to do that.
Alyssa Milano and the film industry are threatening
to boycott Georgia if the bill is signed into
law, a move which could have serious economic
repercussions.
We cannot, in good conscience, continue to
recommend our industry remain in Georgia if
HB 481 becomes the law.
Even that didn't deter Georgia lawmakers,
and the bill eventually passed both houses
under heavy police presence.
You're in violation of 1611 34.1.
You will be incarcerated if you do not disperse
immediately.
We're not going to be bullied!
No!
Nobody's getting arrested and nobody's leaving.
This is the people's house!
With Brian Kemp as Governor, the “heartbeat
bill” is sure to become law.
The ACLU has pledged a lawsuit when that happens,
so this is an ongoing story that may have
implications for women around the country.
There's lots more that happened during the
2019 legislative session.
If you'd like to see a fancy infographic summary
of how our local delegation voted, you can
check out my website at athenspoliticsnerd.com.
I can't get to everything in this short video,
but I would like to close by recognizing the
truly horrible voting record of people like
Houston Gaines and Marcus Wiedower.
They distinguished themselves this session
by consistently being on the radical fringe
even by Republican standards.
Of course, they voted for the abortion ban
and the insecure voting machines bill.
Beyond that, they voted against HB 426, a
bi-partisan hate crimes bill, that would have
finally given LGBTQ Georgians some civil rights
protections.
Georgia is one of only five states right now
that allows discrimination in public accommodations.
HB 426 passed the House, so that means most
of their colleagues voted YES on it.
Houston Gaines was criticized last year for
having open homophobe Joan Rhoden on his campaign
staff,
I'm Houston Gaines running for State House,
to put words into action.
So really, I can't say I'm surprised he voted
no on this.
Gaines and Wiedower also co-sponsored a bill
that would have rolled back some of Governor
Deal's successful bail reform efforts, and
this idea was so unpopular with their fellow
Republicans that it never even came up for
a vote.
To top it off, they also both voted yes on
a bill designed to protect confederate monuments
by giving strict penalties for damaging monuments
and making their removal more difficult.
Because of course they did.
If you're a Democrat in Athens or elsewhere,
who supported Houston Gaines or even fundraised
for him, I hope you take a moment to seriously
reflect on your actions.
Houston Gaines is not a moderate.
He's one of the most regressive Republicans
in the state legislature and he does not deserve
the support of a single Democrat in 2020.
Alright.
Whew!
Like share and subscribe everybody!
Now for an update: Towards the very end of
the session, the Senate changed their sexual
harassment investigation policy mostly back
to where it was, although investigations are
barred for claims of harassment over four
years ago.
I still find it shameful that our local Senator
Bill Cowsert was a strong vocal supporter
of the original changes.
