Tennessee House passes controversial fetal heartbeat abortion bill

FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2016 file photo, pro-abortion rights signs are seen during the March for Life 2016, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court will not allow North Dakota to enforce a law banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The justices on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, turned away the state’s appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the 2013 fetal heartbeat law as unconstitutional. The law never took effect and abortion rights supporters said it was the strictest anti-abortion measure in the country. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File) FILE - In this Jan. 22, 2016 file photo, pro-abortion rights signs are seen during the March for Life 2016, in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in Washington. The Supreme Court will not allow North Dakota to enforce a law banning abortions when a fetal heartbeat is detected as early as six weeks into a pregnancy. The justices on Monday, Jan. 25, 2016, turned away the state’s appeal of lower court rulings that struck down the 2013 fetal heartbeat law as unconstitutional. The law never took effect and abortion rights supporters said it was the strictest anti-abortion measure in the country. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

By Andy Sher March 7, 2019 6 min read

NASHVILLE – The Tennessee House on Thursday passed a controversial bill to ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which could effectively bar the procedure as early as six weeks into pregnancy.

Representatives approved the bill, which would be one of the most restrictive in the nation and which opponents have vowed to challenge in court, on a largely party-line, 65-21 vote.

But first, proponents added an amendment to Republican Rep. Micah Van Huss’ measure, to address concerns. It completely rewrote the bill to provide a belt-and-suspenders approach aimed at preventing the bill from gutting Tennessee’s existing abortion restrictions if it is successfully challenged or enjoined.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Republican Senate speaker, plans to proceed cautiously, telling reporters: “I certainly support that if the fetus has a normal heartbeat – it’s viable. And I think most of the members of the Senate feel like that. But what I’d like to do is kind of wait to see what happened to some of the other laws that have been passed [in other states] and look at that.”