Image Credit: Gov. Bill Lee / Facebook
The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –
On April 17th, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed legislation aimed at preventing local governments from spending taxpayers’ dollars to assist individuals in getting abortions.
House Bill 0090 (HB0090), sponsored by Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington-District 81), and Senate Bill 0600 (SB0600), sponsored by Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 28), prevents any city, county, or metropolitan government from spending taxpayer dollars for the purposes of directly or indirectly assisting a person in obtaining an abortion. This applies to in-state and out-of-state abortions.
On March 13th, the Senate passed SB0600 with 27 votes in favor and 6 against. The votes were along party lines with only Democrats voting against.
On March 30th, the House passed HB0090 with 65 votes in favor and 23 against. The votes were mostly along party lines with only Republican Representative Susan Lynn (R-Mt. Juliet-District 57) voting with the Democrats against the bill.
Of note, Rep. Lynn is the only Republican recorded as voting No at any point during the bill’s progression in either chamber of the Legislature.
Senate Speaker, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally signed off on the legislation on April 3rd, followed by House Speaker Cameron Sexton signing off on April 5th.
An amendment to the original version of the bill added the word “criminal” as a qualifier on prohibited abortions, rewording the bill to prohibit Metropolitan counties and cities from using taxpayer money to assist with ‘criminal’ abortions or transportation to states that allow abortion.
Now that the bill has been signed by Governor Lee, it will be assigned a Public Chapter number and will be placed into Tennessee Code as law.
About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career. Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others. He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History. Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com
