NASHVILLE - Tennessee senators on Monday voted 27-3 on legislation banning abortions after 20 weeks if doctors determine the fetus is viable following required testing.
The ban wouldn't apply in medical emergencies or if the mother faces risks of death or serious damage to a major bodily function.
The bill is still moving through the House committee process.
Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, a physician and the bill's sponsor, said changes he made to the bill resolve concerns previously raised by State Attorney General Herbert Slatery about the bill's constitutionality.
"He has said he could support this legislation like it is now," Hensley said. "Twenty states have this 20-week viability. It has never been contested in the courts so I don't think this will either."
He urged colleagues to "vote for life. Women do have a choice up to 20 weeks. We are just trying to protect those infants who don't have anyone else to protect them."
But Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris, D-Memphis, an attorney, warned the legislation represents a "sea change" in Tennessee law.
The legislation, Harris said, doesn't adequately address fetal abnormalities and he noted it would apply to any fetus "that can survive without medical assistance. This bill requires, under the penalty of criminal law, that the doctor ensure they survive.
The bill would require any physician who determines that the fetus is not viable at 20 weeks or later to obtain a second opinion from someone who is not in the same medical practice.
Physicians who violate the would-be law could be charged by prosecutors with a Class E felony with prison penalties of between three to 15 years, Harris warned. He said a doctor could also lose his or her medical license.
The bill allows physicians to mount a defense based on their subjective judgment based on their experience in terms of the viability issue. Hensley removed a secondary provision requiring objective evidence with Slatery having raised concerns about two standards.
A group of women wearing red capes and white caps stood outside the chamber in protest of the legislation.
"We are NOT Tennessee Handmaids," said one woman's sign.
They said it's a reference to The Handmaid's Tale, a dystopian novel about a fundamentalist totalitarian theocracy in New England.
Voting for the bill were Sens. Todd Gardenhire, R-Chattanooga; Bo Watson, R-Hixson; Mike Bell, R-Riceville, and Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma.