Tennessee: Abortion measure may spark House fight today

PDF: Senate Joint Resolution 127

NASHVILLE — Proponents of a constitutional amendment that effectively would strip the Tennessee Constitution of any protections for abortions were unsure Wednesday whether they would try to bypass a House committee today and bring the measure directly to the floor.

“It’s very clear that 66 votes do not exist to suspend the rules,” House Minority Leader Jason Mumpower, R-Bristol, told House Republican Caucus members Wednesday afternoon. “Now, we still got a few hours between now and then.”

Rep. Mumpower told colleagues they were welcome to weigh in with him later on whether to proceed with the effort.

Rep. Delores Gresham, R-Somerville, the sponsor of Senate Joint Resolution 127, said “there’s still some time left. And I’m the eternal optimist. So the bottom line is, it remains to be seen” whether she will proceed.

The resolution seeks to void a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling that said the Tennessee Constitution provides greater privacy protections than the U.S. Constitution.

That ruling threw out state laws that required a 48-hour waiting period for women seeking an abortion, mandated that physicians would provide women with only detailed information about the procedure and that second-trimester abortions be performed in a hospital.

Proponents said they thought they had at least 60 votes but noted three supporters would be absent.

The measure passed earlier this year in the Senate but failed in a House Health and Human Resources subcommittee. It would have to pass the next General Assembly before it could go to voters in a 2010 referendum.

House Democrats met and discussed the measure. Several said they would back efforts to pull it out of committee onto the House floor. Rep. JoAnne Favors, D-Chattanooga, a registered nurse, said she would oppose the measure.

“Most of us are opposed to abortion, but most of us realistically accept this as a moral issue or as a religious issue rather than as a legislative issue,” she said.

While legislative supporters of the resolution say it would let lawmakers pass “common-sense” protections, former Sen. David Fowler, R-Signal Mountain, who now heads Family Action of Tennessee, and allies are focusing on the late-term abortion issue.

Mr. Fowler said the state’s 1997 law banning “partial-birth abortion” remains constitutionally suspect under the 2000 decision.

Supporters of abortion rights note the U.S. Supreme Court last year affirmed a congressional ban on such late-term abortions. Mr. Fowler questioned whether that applies to all such procedures performed in Tennessee.

That drew fire from five Tennessee groups earlier this week including the League of Women Voters of Tennessee, the Tennessee Women’s Political Caucus and the ACLU of Tennessee, which collectively urged lawmakers in a statement to “look beyond election year rhetoric.”

“Why should the right to privacy in (Tennessee Constitution) Article VI be taken away from one group and one group only, namely pregnant women?” said League of Women Voters President Judy Poulson.