NASHVILLE – Two Tennessee Republican lawmakers want cities and counties to have the ability to have their own “special census” to count “unborn children,” arguing it will help local governments obtain more money from the state for local needs.
The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, and Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Gray, comes as the U.S. Census Bureau prepares to conduct the once-a-decade census that is used to determine the number of seats each state has in the U.S. House as well as distribute billions of federal dollars to local communities.
“Even though a child might not yet be born, that life will certainly add to the population size and impact the community,” said Pody, a staunch opponent of abortion rights, in a news release announcing Senate Bill 2069. “Not only will it cost money to educate that child, but that life will also increase costs for infrastructure, health care and other services.”
Pody also said that “if we believe an unborn child is a person, and I certainly do, then the life of that child deserves to be counted in the population.”
It was not immediately clear how the special census would be conducted or whether the proposal would make much headway in terms of recognition by the U.S. Census Bureau, which does not currently count fetuses.