YOUR SAY: Stalling a bill that prevents future victims is not the right thing to do

"It's all about me."­

— Mýa, 1998

"It's not about you."­

— Bob Burg, 2011

State Sen. Renee Unterman, R-­Buford, has long presented herself as a champion of sexually exploited children. A former nurse, she knows that collecting and analyzing the evidence from sexual assault examinations is vital to getting justice for each victim, and, just as importantly, taking perpetrators off the street before they can offend again.

That's why it was so disappointing when she blocked, apparently on a whim, the Pursuing Justice for Rape Victims Act, a bipartisan bill that passed the Georgia House unanimously. This act would require law enforcement agencies to count and turn in their old, untested rape kits to state forensic labs this summer. The act would also spell out how and when new evidence should be picked up from hospitals and clinics where it is collected. Agencies across the state would work under the same uniform rules to submit the evidence to state labs within 30 days.

State Rep. Scott Holcomb, D­-Atlanta, sponsored the bill because audits had shown that thousands of rape kits had been ignored for years, and in some cases, decades. Although the largest backlog of untested kits was located at Atlanta's Grady Hospital, other investigations have documented significant backlogs of untested evidence across Georgia. For example, police in Athens found 159 untested rape kits dating back to 1993, and Cobb County police found 365 dating back to the 1970s.

There's no debate about the need for this bill, or whether or not it will solve crimes, or take rapists off the streets. And because rapists are often serial offenders, stopping one rapist can often mean saving dozens of women from the agony from these horrific crimes. That's why this bill is supported by members of the Prosecuting Attorney's Council, the GBI and numerous victim's rights groups.

And yet when presented with the need for this bill and it's overwhelming support, Unterman responded with "There's no reason to write a law just because it makes you feel good."

Apparently miffed that the bill didn't come out of her own study committee on campus sexual assault, Unterman nonsensically claimed that the bill, which again, passed unanimously in a Republican­-controlled House, had been "overly politicized."

Now, Gov. Nathan Deal and Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle should step up and make sure this important piece of legislation moves forward. Every elected office in this state is, by its nature, political. At least part of the job is concerned with the acquisition, or the maintenance, of authority by the political process. But just because an office is political, it doesn't mean it's partisan.

In all my years as a prosecutor, I've never once asked a victim what his party affiliation is. Being DA means getting justice for everyone who sets foot in your community, not just those you agree with, or those who can vote for you. You help everyone you can. And more often than you would think, you find officials in more party­ driven offices who defy partisan politics and work to do the right thing no matter what.

Unfortunately, Sen. Unterman chose not to be one of those people last week. Every other official who has touched this bill, Republican and Democrat, has seen the immediate need for this bill, and has supported it, just because it helps people. Because they know that sometimes, it's not about them. If only Sen. Unterman took a moment to realize, it's not about her.

David Cooke is the Bibb County district attorney.

This story was originally published March 19, 2016 at 6:21 PM with the headline "YOUR SAY: Stalling a bill that prevents future victims is not the right thing to do ."