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The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –
Should the U.S. Supreme Court overturn Roe v. Wade, Tennessee’s “trigger law” that was passed in 2019 would go into effect 30 days after the Supreme Court’s decision, potentially saving the lives of thousands of babies.
The Human Life Protection Act would “criminalize performing or attempting to perform an abortion, except in extreme cases where it is necessary to prevent death or serious and permanent bodily injury to the mother.”
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said, “If the federal courts return full authority to the states, Tennessee’s laws will automatically provide the maximum possible protection and offer a glimmer of redemption as America reconciles our troubled past.”
Tennessee has passed several abortion-related bills since 2019, including a heartbeat law that would prevent an abortion after six weeks of pregnancy that is currently the subject of litigation.
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At the beginning of May, Governor Lee signed the “Tennessee Abortion-Inducing Drug Risk Protocol Act” into law that penalizes physicians for prescribing abortion inducing drugs via telehealth appointments. The state also has an ultrasound law, which requires any physician conducting an abortion to perform a sonogram and make the images and heartbeat sound available for the mother.
If Roe v. Wade is overturned the Attorney General would notify the Tennessee Code Commission and within 30 days abortion would be banned in Tennessee. Under the Human Life Protection Act, doctors can be charged with a felony for performing an abortion. Women seeking to end a pregnancy would not be prosecuted.
But abortion could be outlawed in Tennessee even sooner if the U.S. District Court in Nashville lifts an injunction against the heartbeat law that Governor Lee publicly signed in 2020. During the signing, Lee said, “It’s our responsibility to protect the most vulnerable in our community.”
The law makes it a Class C felony, punishable by three to fifteen years in prison, for a doctor to perform an abortion once a heartbeat is detected. Although subject to challenges within an hour of Lee signing the legislation that he said makes Tennessee “one of the most pro-life states in America,” the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated part of the law early this year for reasons such as race, gender, or genetic abnormality.
When abortion providers including Planned Parenthood, other abortion rights groups and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against the law, the district court ruled that “heartbeat and gestational-age bans” were prohibited by the Supreme Court. The overturning of Roe v. Wade would remove that argument and likely lift the injunction allowing the law to go into effect.
In 2019 Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi performed 4,742 abortions. Out of these, 98% ended a pregnancy at or after six weeks. The Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health, provides approximately 1,300 abortions in Tennessee every year. They report that 95% of their patients have an abortion after six weeks. If the injunction against the heartbeat law is lifted, which bans abortion after the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected (as early as six weeks), the lives of thousands of babies in Tennessee could potentially be saved.
About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
