Georgia Republicans in the House have decided that if they cannot have a full 20 week abortion ban with no exceptions, they don’t want any ban at all.

Via the Atlanta Journal Constitution:

HB 954, the bill to shorten the period of time in which a woman could seek an abortion, died this afternoon – a major defeat for pro-life forces. And House Speaker David Ralston just made sure everyone understood: It was the Senate’s fault.

The Senate substantively changed the bill on Monday, including an exception for “medically futile” pregnancies. The House refused to budge this afternoon, and Senate Republicans couldn’t persuade enough of their number to back off.

It’s a bitter sweet victory.  On the bright side, there will be no ban on abortions at 20 weeks for those women who learn about fetal defects or other issues with their pregnancies, or who had other reasons that they couldn’t obtain an abortion earlier.  But on the other hand, that’s only because a group of House Republicans were so intent on making women carry non-viable pregnancies against their will that they would rather not have a bill at all than allow them to terminate their pregnancies.