Bill would prohibit profit off of aborted fetus sales

Rep. Christian Coomer says the bill also prevents trafficking of human body parts in general.

After a video was released in 2015 allegedly showing Planned Parenthood selling fetuses for profit, several Georgia representatives have introduced a bill prohibiting such actions.

House Bill 762 will prevent mothers or doctors from selling aborted fetuses for profit, according to bill sponsor and State Rep. Wendell Willard, a Republican out of Sandy Springs.

“I don’t think it is a problem (in Georgia),” Willard said.

Enough people have asked if selling aborted fetuses for profit is legal, so Willard and others felt a preventative measure was needed before it potentially became a problem.

Rep. Christian Coomer, R-Cassville, and cosponsor of the bill, said it is designed to close a loophole in existing law that allows aborted fetuses to be sold for profit for medical or scientific research purposes.

However, this bill won’t prevent mothers from donating an aborted fetus for medical research, Willard said.

If the bill is passed, any person or corporation caught buying or selling a fetus would be guilty of a felony and would be fined up to $5,000 or by serving one to five years in prison, or both.

The bill also prevents trafficking in human body parts in general, Coomer said.

However, there are exceptions provided for in the bill.

The purchase or sale of whole blood, blood derivatives or hair will still be allowed, according to the bill.

The bill also allows for the reimbursement of expenses, including medical costs, for the living person who donates a part of the person’s body.

Finally, “human tissue, organs, or other parts of the human body, not including a human fetus or any part thereof,” can be purchased or sold, the bill indicates.

Willard, who is chair of the House Judiciary Committee, hopes to have the bill moved to the Rules Committee and then onto the House floor for discussion in a week or two.