Tennessee CapitolNASHVILLE -- The Tennessee Senate today approved two major abortion measures today, including a mandatory 48-hour waiting period for women seeking the procedure as well as requiring prior "informed consent" by a physician about the risks and other options such as adoption.
The waiting period/mandatory counseling bill, sponsored by Sen. Mae Beavers, R-Mt. Juliet, passed on a 27-5 vote. Efforts failed to amend the bill to provide allow any health care professional provide the counseling instead of only a doctor.
Senators also passed another bill that would regulate all abortion providers where at least 50 of the procedures are performed annually. The clinics would be regulated as ambulatory surgical centers under the bill sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, a physician.
The two measures are expected to come up in the House, possibly as early as Thursday.
Both bills were made possible after voters last year approved a state constitutional amendment making the Tennessee Constitution silent on abortion. That voided a 2000 state Supreme Court ruling that had struck down the state's then-existing waiting period and informed consent laws.
State laws on abortion still must meet standards established by the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade case and subsequent rulings.
Opponents are questioning the constitutionality of the 48-hour waiting period but proponents believe it will withstand legal challenge.