Tennessee Bill Would Help Support State’s Abortion Ban
The Human Life Protection Act, the Tennessee law that is protecting over 1,000 unborn children from legalized abortion every month, is in danger.
Soon after the law took effect, abortion activists with the ACLU and the Center for Reproductive Rights brought a lawsuit challenging the law. While hearing the case, the court raised concerns about the medical necessity exceptions. During the next session, the legislature responded to clarify but not weaken the law. The court challenge should have ended there but it didn’t.
Today, the case, Phillips v. State, continues. The activist organizations are still in court, still litigating our law- even though the specific statutory language they challenged has already been addressed.
The bottom line is that this case was never about clarifying the law. They want to gut our law protecting unborn children and their mothers from the tragedy of abortion and are using a legal loophole to keep it tied up in court.
This is not a legitimate constitutional challenge. Our legislators answered their legal objection. What is happening is a fundraising campaign and a political platform, paid for by the Tennessee taxpayers, enabled by a loophole in Tennessee law.
That loophole can and must be closed. There is a bill moving in the legislature this session to do exactly that. Unfortunately, it will not undo the current case against the HLPA, but it will put an end to this practice of challenging pro-life laws passed by our duly elected representatives and senators.
In 2018, the General Assembly passed a narrow law meant to help citizens challenge government overreach. This law is now allowing radical abortion organizations and individuals to challenge our legislation. Courts have interpreted the 2018 law far beyond what the legislature intended, turning it into one of the broadest waivers of Tennessee’s sovereign immunity in the country. Tennessee is now the only pro-life state where activist organizations can exploit a law like this to freeze duly enacted legislation sometime even before it takes effect.
HB1971 by Representative Andrew Farmer and the Senate companion SB1958 by Senator John Stevens would close the loophole that has allowed these challenges to our pro-life laws.
When abortion legislators and activists can’t win at the ballot box or in legislature, they use the courts. They find a sympathetic judge to stop or slow our laws.
We have fought too hard and come too far to let a courtroom loophole undo what Tennessee voters and pro-life legislators have decided.
Tennessee Right to Life SUPPORTS this legislation.
HB1971 is scheduled to be heard in the House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, March 18 starting at 12:00 p.m. CST. Please contact the members and ask them to vote YES on HB1971.
ACTION: Contact the House Judiciary Committee: VOTE YES ON HB1971
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