ATLANTA, Ga. (WALB) - Democratic Georgia State Senator Sally Harrell released a statement following the arrest of a Tifton woman who had a miscarriage at 19 weeks.

Read the full statement below in its entirety:

“Today, state Senator Sally Harrell (D-Atlanta) called on the Georgia legislature to reverse the fetal personhood component of Georgia’s six-week abortion ban after the arrest of Tifton resident Selena Maria Chandler-Scott, following a natural miscarriage at 19 weeks.

“This case demonstrates the idiocy of fetal personhood. Every woman of reproductive age in Georgia who miscarries beyond the six-week marker of Georgia’s law can now be criminalized for a miscarriage.

For example, if a woman miscarries at home at 8 weeks, she would typically sit on the toilet, pass mostly blood, and maybe, if she attempted to search through the blood, she might see some fetal tissue the size of a bean. She would flush the toilet at the completion of the miscarriage. Then she would simply need to rest. If she does nothing else, her freedom could be taken from her, as she has now committed two felonies. She concealed the death of a person, punishable up to ten years,  and she abandoned a dead body, punishable for up to 3 years.

This is terrifying for women of reproductive age in Georgia.  It is the criminalization of women’s bodies. It subjects women to either publication of their most private moments or the fearful hiding and shaming of their natural bodily processes.

It’s insanity and just plain wrong. It’s injecting judgment upon the forces of nature outside a woman’s control.

The legislature needs to refrain from assuming for themselves the wrath and judgment of God, admit they did wrong, and reverse the personhood component of the 2019 abortion ban. Selena Maria Chandler-Scott is not just one woman. She is all of us,” said Senator Harrell."

In her speech today, April 2, Sen. Harrell references House Bill 481 from 2019. The bill, named the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act passed and gives unborn fetuses personhood:

State Senator Carden Summers, who represents Tift County as the District 13 Senator, was not in office to vote on the LIFE Act. However, Sen. Summers sponsored Senate Bill 456, or the Women’s Health and Safety Act, in 2022. This Act limits access to abortion-inducing medication. See the bill below:

See the three-minute speech Senator Harrell made on the Georgia Senate floor below:

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