NASHVILLE -- Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti last week joined with 21 fellow Republican state attorneys general to support a federal lawsuit in Texas seeking to reverse the federal Food and Drug Administration's 2000 approval of the abortion drug mifepristone nationally.
Twenty-two Democratic state attorneys general are opposing the effort, filed by abortion opponents who last year won a landmark victory before the U.S. Supreme Court when the court overturned the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision protecting women's right to an abortion.
Medication abortions now account for the majority of abortions in the U.S., and Tennessee state Republican lawmakers have voiced concerns about mail-order delivery of the two-drug regimen into the state.
Skrmetti, named attorney general last year by the Tennessee Supreme Court, said in a release the brief argues the Biden administration and FDA's effort to "roll back safety mechanisms" for mifepristone to make it "widely available" by mail violates both federal and state laws.
He and fellow Republicans are also arguing that federal criminal law "plainly" prohibits distribution of abortion-inducing drugs through the mail. They say that even if the FDA approval "harmonized" with the agency's regulations and federal criminal law, "those actions would not simply displace state laws regarding abortion."
Democratic attorneys general, meanwhile, have also filed a brief in the case, arguing the effect of reversing approval of mifepristone nationally could be "nothing short of catastrophic."
U.S. District Court Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, a President Donald Trump appointee, is presiding over the case.
Hazlewood, Stevens propose 'Marsy's Law' as state constitutional amendment
State Rep. Patsy Hazlewood, R-Signal Mountain, and Sen. John Stevens, R-Huntingdon, have introduced a proposed amendment to the Tennessee Constitution, known as Marsy's Law, which seeks to provide crime victims "meaningful and enforceable" constitutional rights "equal to the rights of the accused."
A similar effort in 2020 didn't succeed amid concerns from law enforcement, civil libertarians and public record advocates. News organizations were worried in 2020 about language stating victims had "the right to be treated with fairness for the victims's safety, dignity and privacy." This year's version omits the word "privacy."
The state constitution already has a victim's rights section, but Hazlewood said it isn't strong enough.
"At this point, victims of crime in Tennessee do not have the guaranteed right to be notified when their abuser is released," Hazlewood said in a news release. "Victims do not have the right to be heard in criminal proceedings involving sentencing, release or pleading. Victims do not have many guaranteed and meaningful rights that Marsy's Law would provide, and as a result, trauma often extends past the scene of the crime and to the criminal proceedings."
Hazlewood said she's proud of this year's House Joint Resolution 94 and that "I hope our state legislature joins us in putting victims first."
Stevens, an attorney, said "crime victims in Tennessee deserve rights and protections just as much as crime victims in Florida, California, Kentucky and any of the other states that have already passed Marsy's Law. We will continue to fight to ensure that victims of crime in Tennessee are guaranteed the respect and dignity they deserve."
The American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee in 2020 argued the U.S. Constitution and all 50 state constitutions guarantee defendants' rights "because they are rights against the state, not because they are valued more by society than victims' rights. Defendants' rights only apply when the state is attempting to deprive the accused -- not the victim -- of life, liberty, or property. They serve as essential checks against government abuse."
At least 14 states, including Georgia, have enacted versions of Marsy's Law, which is named after Marsy Nicholas, the sister of Henry Nicholas, a co-founder and former co-chairman of the board, president and chief executive officer of Broadcom Corp.
Nicholas pressed for the law after his sister, a then-senior at the University of California Santa Barbara, was stalked and later murdered by her ex-boyfriend, Kerry Conley. The day of her funeral, according to the Marsy's Law website, her mother, Marcella, later encountered Conley in a grocery store, not knowing he had been released on bond.
Conley was convicted in the murder and died in prison a year before California voters approved the state's Victims' Bill of Rights Act of 2008 as approved as Proposition 9 through the state's initiative process.
The Hazlewood and Stevens bill updates, revises and builds upon existing portions of the Tennessee Constitution's existing Article I, Section 35 dealing with rights of victims and families.
For example, it introduces a "right to be treated with fairness for the victim's safety and dignity." And it specifies a right "upon request" to "reasonable notice" of all criminal public proceedings and also specifies that includes juvenile court proceedings. And victims have a right to be present.
It also asserts "the right to be heard, when relevant, at all critical stages of the criminal justice process as defined by the General Assembly."
And it adds a right to "be fully informed of all rights afforded to crime victims. A victim may assert the rights enumerated in this section, not as a party, but in the manner further provided by the General Assembly protecting the victim's right to standing."
'Irregular' heartbeat results in pacemaker for Senate Speaker McNally
Tennessee Lt. Gov. Randy McNally, the Senate's Republican speaker, was hospitalized last week and later received a pacemaker after the 79-year-old from Oak Ridge began experiencing symptoms Thursday of an irregular heart beat while presiding over the Senate chamber. The notion something was wrong was reinforced by an alert from his smartwatch that he had a low heart rate.
McNally, who had played lacrosse into his 70s, first consulted an expert -- Sen. Richard Briggs, a Knoxville heart-and-lung surgeon with more than three decades in practice. Go to the hospital immediately, Briggs advised, which McNally did.
The speaker issued updates on Twitter on Thursday and Friday.
"I checked into Vanderbilt hospital earlier today," the speaker wrote Thursday. "Tests indicate I will likely need a pacemaker to regulate my cardiac issues. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers."
By Friday, the speaker tweeted, "Happy to report my pacemaker surgery went smoothly. Currently in recovery and resting comfortably. Thank you to friends, family, colleagues and citizens across the state for your messages, prayers and support.
"Looking forward to getting back to work!" he added.
Contact Andy Sher at asher@timesfreepress.com.