Day 30 - Crossover Madness 3: A Bad Bill Fails, and the Arm-Twisting Begins

As we write, some Republican senators arms are being twisted in the backroom of the Senate. We're outside listening for that snapping sound that means, well, you know...

Just a bit ago, there was applause from all the folks glued to the monitor in the hallway, after SB 169 was tabled (meaning it wouldn't have a chance to pass this year.)

SB 169, by Sen. Hudgens, was rewritten in special a subcommittee by Senator Smith. Much of the original language was removed but the revised bill would ban cloning and stem cell research and would elevate the legal status of an embryo to that of a "person".

For couples who are challenged with fertility issues, it would throw up road blocks that interfere with their ability to build their families.

Elevating the legal status of embryos, to that of a “person,” could have random implications and broad, legal and medical ramifications.

And other language that would shut down stem cell research projects in Georgia.

The "debate" was hilarious. Sen. Hudgins (R) took question after question that he admitted to not being able to answer.

In response to many questions about the bill, his response was, "I'm not a scientist" [and thus can't answer the question.]

Sen. Seth Harp (D) asked, Wouldn't the bill, if passed, make anyone who destroys an embryo guilty of capital murder? Hudgins's response, after saying at least once that he wasn't a lawyer: "I'm not gonna argue the law with you."

Apparently he isn't much of anything.

In response to Sen. Nan Orrock's (D) question about the 71,000 Georgians that have in vitro babies that wouldn't have been able to be born under this law, Hudgins said, "We want that embryo declared an 'embryonic human being' - or whatever you wanna call it."

This bill was about three things: science, the law, and legal definitions of embryos. Yet Hudgins directly and indirectly said that he couldn't address any of those things.

Thankfully, the bill failed. And now, the arm-twisting has begun.

. . .

On the House side, they're still working their way through the bills on the calendar. And we're still waiting to see if they do a supplemental Rules meeting when they're done, meaning...will they meet to add more bills to the calendar. We're crossing our fingers that the relative calm of today's Crossover Day will not be shattered in the next couple of hours, and that everybody can go home at a reasonable time and without having to deal with any more crazy bills or backroom mauneuvers.