GA Governor Signing ‘Heartbeat Bill’ : I’m Not Worried About What Hollywood Thinks Of Me

On Tuesday, despite the specter of Hollywood actors pushing for a boycott, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp will sign the “heartbeat” abortion bill, according to Fox News.

Kemp told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC), “I can’t govern because I’m worried about what someone in Hollywood thinks about me. I ran the last two years on these issues, and I got elected with the largest number of votes in the history of the state of Georgia, and I’m doing what I told people I would do … Our business environment’s good. We cannot change our values of who we are for money. And we’re not going to do that. That’s what makes our state great.”

Staci Fox of Planned Parenthood Southeast told AJC, “We warned them – we will see you in court, Governor Kemp. And we are coming for their seats.”

AJC noted that Georgia hosted 455 productions last fiscal year, generating $9.5 billion in economic impact and $2.7 billion in direct spending.

The “heartbeat Bill,” H.B. 481, states that the “full value of a child begins when a heartbeat exists”; requires “physicians performing abortions to determine the existence of a detectable human heartbeat before performing an abortion,” states “it shall be the policy of the State of Georgia to recognize unborn children as natural persons,” and asserts “unless otherwise provided by law, any natural person, including an unborn child with a detectable human heartbeat, shall be included in population based determinations.”

As The Daily Wire reported in late March, 50 actors who fancied themselves paragons of morality sent a letter written by abortion advocate Alyssa Milano to Georgia House Speaker David Ralston and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp threatening the state of Georgia with a boycott if the state passed H.B. 481, the Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act, also known as the “heartbeat bill.”

The letter stated:

As actors, our work often brings us to Georgia. We’ve always found your state to be populated with friendly and caring people. We’ve found the hotels in which we stay and restaurants in which we dine while filming there to be comfortable and of a high quality. We’ve been glad to bring millions of dollars in revenue to support Georgia’s schools, parks and communities. But we cannot in good conscience continue to recommend our industry remain in Georgia if H.B. 481 becomes law.

This dangerous and deeply-flawed bill mimics many others which have already been deemed unconstitutional. As men who identify as small-government conservatives, we remind you that government is never bigger than when it is inside a woman’s body or in her doctor’s office. This bill would remove the possibility of women receiving reproductive healthcare before most even know they are pregnant and force many women to undergo unregulated, hidden procedures at great risk to their health.

We can’t imagine being elected officials who had to say to their constituents, “I enacted a law that was so evil, it chased billions of dollars out of our state’s economy.” It’s not the most effective campaign slogan, but rest assured we’ll make it yours should it come to pass. This is the precipice on which you stand. We want to stay in Georgia. We want to continue to support the wonderful people, businesses and communities we have come to love in the Peach State. But we will not do so silently, and we will do everything in our power to move our industry to a safer state for women if H.B. 481 becomes law. You have a choice, gentlemen. We pray you make the right one.