Contact: Genevieve Wilson, Georgia Right to Life, 770-339-6880

NORCROSS, Ga., Jan. 15, 2015 /Christian Newswire/ -- Georgia Right to Life (GRTL) Executive Director Genevieve Wilson today called on all Georgia's Republican Congressmen to act like the majority and reject efforts to pass a watered-down, symbolic abortion bill now before Congress.

"Last Fall, voters sent a clear message that they're fed up with political gamesmanship and lack of courage," Wilson said. "There's absolutely no need to compromise principles on any bill, especially one that President Obama has already said he will veto."

Wilson added that it's time for lawmakers to listen to voters and stop playing politics with children's lives.

The 20-week Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act (H.R.36), was filed by Rep. Trent Franks, R-AZ, and is similar to one he drafted in 2013. The bill bans abortion after 20 weeks fetal age of pregnancy when medical science affirms the child in the womb clearly feels and reacts to pain.

GRTL supported the 2013 version until an exception for rape and incest was added - which H.R.36 also has. We should pass bills that protect all children in the womb who feel pain, not just those conceived by consent.

The latest measure is expected to be brought to a House vote in just a few days. Noting that Republicans increased their majority in the U.S. House and regained control of the U.S. Senate, Wilson said pro-life supporters have the votes—if they have the courage—to protect all innocent human life, not just some.

"GRTL has the utmost sympathy and compassion for rape and incest victims," Wilson said. "But children conceived by rape and incest are no different than any other child who feels the pain of literally being torn apart."

Rape and incest exceptions create a sub-class of human beings deemed less deserving of life than others. "That's simply morally wrong," Wilson said.

Wilson's sentiments were echoed by Susan Jaramillo, a Georgia pro-life author who was conceived in rape.

"My life is just as valuable as anyone's," Jaramillo said. "Being born is not a choice; it's a right. And all children, regardless of how they were conceived, feel the same agonizing pain of being torn apart."

Pointing out that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that rapists and child molesters don't deserve the death penalty, Wilson said: "Shame on us as a nation for imposing a stricter sentence on these innocent children than on the perpetrators of the crime."

Georgia Right to Life promotes respect and effective legal protection for all innocent human life from earliest biological beginning through natural death. GRTL is one of a number of organizations that have adopted Personhood as the most effective pro-life strategy for the 21st century.