Sue Ella Deadwyler's WMVV Radio Commentary, 2/8/07

Whether a person is a citizen of this country or an interloper hoping never to be caught, medical care is available to each regardless of the ability to pay. Of course, good old American tax payers have to pick up the tab and that's not fair, but that's the way it is.

Whether a child is a citizen of the United States or is here illegally, those same good old Americans pay for their education. Legal and illegal children, alike, are taught by teachers whose salaries are paid by tax payers. They all use books and equipment funded by taxes. So, everyone can be educated through the twelfth grade and get health care, regardless of legal status. That suggests that legal status does not matter and there's something wrong with that.

While education and health care are free for the asking, a couple of Georgia legislators of Latino descent have tried to provide even more goodies to illegals. During the 2003 session, for example, Representative Pedro Marin of Duluth, Georgia introduced a bill authorizing temporary work permits for professional counselors that have licenses to practice in a foreign country and did practice professionally there. It was no oversight that the bill did not require such foreign professionals to enter this country legally. That bill died.

Also in 2003, Senator Sam Zamarippa introduced S.B. 181 to authorize driver's licenses for international visitors, students, business people and workers from 34 foreign countries, which he named in the bill, plus other foreign investors or U.S. trade-partners. Those "visitors" were not required to be here legally or to be a resident of the U.S. That bill died, too.

This session, Senator John Douglas introduced S.B. 50 to tighten the notary public law. When the current notary public law passed, no one dreamed illegal aliens would apply for that job in this state. But, that's changed and the law has to change. S.B. 50 simply adds a reasonable provision that any person who wants to be a notary public must, not only be at least 18 years old, but must be a legal resident of the United States.

Current law already requires an applicant to be a resident of Georgia and of the county where the appointment is made and must be able to read and write the English language. But, in this day and age, requiring anyone to be able to read and write English could be a problem.

Current notary public law says anyone violating the notary public law is guilty of a misdemeanor and that's all it says. But S.B. 50 would throw the book at repeat offenders. If this bill passes, any person who violates the notary public law would be guilty of a misdemeanor for the first and second offenses. That's the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. But the third offense would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison or a fine up to $5,000 or both. Call Senate Judiciary Chairman Preston Smith at 404-656-0034 and ask him to pass this out of committee. This law would keep unscrupulous people from handling official documents when they shouldn't be here in the first place.

Sue Ella Deadwyler's WMVV Radio Commentary, 2/5/07

When abortion was legalized January 22, 1973, two Supreme Court decisions did the dirty deed. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion through the sixth month of pregnancy. Then on the same day in 1973, the Doe v. Bolton decision legalized abortion through the ninth month. Sandra Cano was the Doe in that case, but she never wanted an abortion and never had an abortion. She, simply, wanted a divorce from her husband who was in and out of prison for molesting children. Margie Pitts Hames, now deceased but then an Atlanta attorney, lied about Sandra's case and got abortion legalized through the ninth month.

When all that happened in 1973, people could get away with claiming the pregnant woman was not carrying a baby, but a "blob of tissue". That's no longer the case. In the mid-'80's DNA proved that three-day-old embryos with four or eight cells were living beings conceived when sperm fertilized a human egg. A single cell could be extracted, analyzed and, when a special enzyme was applied, it reproduced millions of copies of the same molecule in just 24 hours. As early as 1990, scientists could determine whether those tiny embryos were male or female.

Ultrasounds or sonograms are now used extensively in medical facilities to provide added confirmation of pregnancy, along with the condition and sex of the unborn child. That technology has, also, become a deterrent to abortion. The old ultrasound showed couples their unborn babies in two-dimensional black and white moving pictures, but that's old stuff. Now there's General Electric's new four-dimensional ultrasound system showing babies in living color, up close, as they move around, suck their thumbs, hiccup, kick, open their eyes and develop in the womb. There's no doubt. Technology has proven it is a human being. It is a developing baby. It is a boy or girl. It is a son or a daughter from the moment of conception.

Last year a bill was introduced to require ultra-sound or sonogram equipment in all facilities where abortions are performed. No patient would be forced to the view images of her unborn child, but those images would be available as part of her informed consent before she has an abortion. Last year's bill did not pass, but Representative James Mills has already introduced H.B. 147 this session and another ultrasound bill is being introduced in the Senate.

The ultrasound or sonogram would, not only disclose the dimensions of the unborn baby, its sex and internal organs, the sound of the baby's heart beat would be heard at the same time. The expectant mother would be given a list of health care providers, facilities and clinics offering ultrasounds free of charge. H.B. 147 requires doctors to give prospective abortion patients the option to have an ultrasound to better inform her about the baby.

Even after viewing an ultrasound, women could choose to abort or keep their babies. H.B. 147 is in Representative Ralston's Non-Civil Judiciary Committee. Call him at 404-656-5943 and ask him to pass this out of committee. If one picture really is worth a thousand words, this bill should save a whole lot of babies.