Collins Comments on Pro-life Bill Co-sponsorship

U.S. Representative Doug Collins has voted  in favor of a historical pro-life bill that would end abortions nation-wide after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

Collins said the bill  is similar to legislation Collins co-sponsored during his time in the Georgia General Assembly.

Under the measure, the law would restrict almost all abortions to the first 20 weeks after conception, defying laws in most states that allow abortions up to when the fetus becomes viable, usually considered to be around 24 weeks.

Georgia however, passed a similar law last year.  In co-sponsoring the bill, Collins told the House the pro-life bill was an important issue and a personal one for him and his family.

“When my wife Lisa was pregnant with our first child, we learned she had spina-bifida,” Collins told the House. “We were shocked when people approached us after the diagnosis and told us we had choice whether to keep her or not.  We knew that Jordan was a gift from God and there was a plan and purpose for her life. We believe that even more strongly today as we see our 21-year old who graduated from high school and is a light to everyone she meets.”

Collins said he hopes the new law would put the brakes on the practice of using abortion as a birth control measure.

“Many folks have welcomed children in the world in the midst of difficult circumstances, not because it was easy but because it was right,” Collins said. “The vast majority of folks in Georgia’s 9th District understand that life is a gift that should not be snuffed out when deemed inconvenient or challenging.”

The bill passed in the House last week with conservative lawmakers calling it a milestone in their 40-year campaign against legalized abortion.

Democrats called it the latest in the GOP war on women.