ATLANTA – Governor Nathan Deal has signed HB 555 into law, assuring an accurate picture of how many of Georgia minor girls seek the protection of the Court and feel compelled to go outside the protection of their parents to obtain an abortion.

HB 555 clarifies how data is to be gathered and transferred through the proper channels in order for the Department of Public health to report, as the law requires of them. This was the first piece of legislation proposed by Georgia Life Alliance Committee in 2015.

“As a modest start to our legislative involvement, we believe HB 555 will begin to help us get a more realistic idea of what the children of our state are facing when making a decision about an unplanned pregnancy,” says Emily Matson, GLA’s Executive Director and originator of the legislative concept, “when we have a better grasp on how many children are going before a judge, rather than face this decision with the support of their parents, the better we, as a community will be able to serve and care for them.”

Sponsored by Representative Joyce Chandler (R-Grayson), the bill requires nothing additional than what is already in the law – but simply clarifies how this data will be gathered and transferred through the proper channels and kept confidential.

“We especially appreciate the work of Representative Chandler on this legislation as well as nearly 20 original House Co-Sponsors who took a bit of a risk on us, being new to the conversation as an organization. We also appreciate Senator Bruce Thompson for carrying it through the Senate. There were many hands who helped make this possible and encouraged it along the way,” said Kristina Twitty, Director of Operations and Lobbyist for Georgia Life Alliance Committee.

HB 555 legislation provides statutory instruction to the Juvenile Court Clerks to collect this specific data regarding the judicial bypass procedure and provide the data to the Administrative Office of the Courts – so that the AOC can then give accurate, certain statistics to the Department of Public Health. The bill ensures the data will be compiled in aggregate form so that it will not be used to target certain judges who may or may not grant such petitions.

Georgia Life Alliance is the Georgia affiliate of National Right to Life.

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