NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A bill that would ban most abortions at 20 weeks has passed in a Senate committee, despite Tennessee's attorney general calling the measure "constitutionally suspect."
Doctors who violated the law could be subject to criminal prosecution under the measure.
The legislation was sponsored by Sen. Joey Hensley, a Republican from Hohenwald who is also a medical doctor. He told members of the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday that the purpose of the bill was to make sure viable infants were not being aborted.
Under the bill, doctors could not perform an abortion at a gestational age of 20 weeks unless the physician deemed the abortion necessary to preserve the mother's life or health.