TN-5 Congressional Candidates Speak On The Issue Of Abortion

Image Credit: Wilson County Conservative Republicans

The Tennessee Conservative [By Paula Gomes] –

A recent forum for candidates running for Tennessee’s fifth congressional district was hosted by the Wilson County Republican Party and Wilson County Conservative Republicans and moderated by The Tennessee Star Report’s Michael Patrick Leahy.

This is the first in a series of four articles covering the questions and responses of the Republican congressional candidates running for the newly redrawn district.

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Seven of the nine candidates were in attendance and were asked four questions by Leahy to which they were allowed one minute each to answer. Natisha Brooks and Kurt Winstead were unable to attend due to other engagements. The Tennessee Conservative reached out to these two candidates to ask for their responses to the same questions. Natisha Brooks’ answers will be included. We did not receive a response from Kurt Winstead before publication of this first article.

First Question: If elected to Congress, there will be, in the next Congress, an effort by Democrats to nationalize abortion rights. What would you do as a member of Congress about that issue?

Geni Batchelor: I would oppose it vehemently, loudly, consistently. Right now, what the Supreme Court did was courageous and just. They returned the matter to the states and to the people and that’s where it belongs. It does not belong in the federal government. So as far as I’m concerned, the tenth amendment provides confirmation of that. It’s not outlined in the constitution that the federal government can dictate whether you have a right to an abortion or not. And quite frankly, I think the person, in the unborn child, is protected under the fourteenth amendment with a right to life. Period. The fact that we’re having this discussion is amazing to me. And the fact that a district attorney would say that it’s cruel and mean of us to stand up for the unborn child is like the  twilight zone to me, it’s absurd, and we’ve got to stand firm and move forward because there’s a lot of work to do.

Stewart Parks: So my answer to your question is – many of you all heard me speak at the April 7th Trump Dinner here in Wilson County and I said I wanted to end abortion forever and I mean that. I’m pro-life and my definition of pro-life means banning abortion – not lowering the abortion window to twenty-one weeks, or six weeks, or even at the risk of the life of the mother or, you know, all these other wiggle room deals that a lot of these people like to do. So when I say end abortion, I mean end abortion. No more abortion clinics. There’s an abortion clinic… in Mount Juliet, there’s another one in Davidson County. Those are two that I know that are either in the fifth district or close to the fifth district. So my answer is – I want to ban abortion on a federal level. And I have said this many times, you can go look at my speeches, I release them on my social media – I want abortion banned on a federal level. And I’ve been talking about banning abortion way before the Supreme Court leak came out. So you can go look, even back on April 7th and even before then in March.

Timothy Lee: It’s pretty simple, the Supreme Court has placed this under the tenth amendment – it is a state right to decide on abortions. So any kind of legislation that the Congress would try to take up, I would adamantly oppose because I stand for the constitution and all parts of the constitution. Not just the first, the second, the third, the fourth but every amendment out there I stand for and believe in. So to answer your question I would go against it until the end.

Jeff Beierlein: Congress has a few powers, first of all – the power of the purse – so they don’t have to fund it at a federal level as well. There’s talk that Biden will direct military bases to provide abortions which is kind of undermining what was decided [on Friday] but per the tenth amendment, all powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution nor prohibited to it thereof are reserved for the states and for the people, and that’s the second part of that victory. The other thing is we need to be courageous and approve the right judges. I’m running for a house seat [and] the senate approves judges but we have to have the right people in those seats to include our senators at the federal level.

Andy Ogles: We are a Republic of free states – so California has the right to be liberal; Tennessee has the right to be conservative. What the Supreme Court has done with Roe vs. Wade and also overturning the New York gun ban is standing firm on the tenth amendment. Next thing we need to do is go after gay marriage. We need to revert that back to the states so each and every state can decide their destiny. As a member of congress, we’ll empower the states to take action on those issues, whether it’s guns, marriage or abortion.

Beth Harwell: I’m the one person up here that actually has a record on this issue. I’m proud to announce that Susan B. Anthony has endorsed me – probably the most pro-life group that exists in the United States. And I will tell you that it’s not always easy, because this is not a political issue to me, this is a moral issue. And politically, my district that I represented in the Tennessee General Assembly is pro-choice but I never voted pro-choice, I always voted pro-life against my district because to me it’s not a political issue, it is an issue of morality. And I am grateful that the Tennessee General Assembly has made sure… that no state funding ever goes to abortions and we need to do the same thing at the federal level. I believe these issues – all domestic issues – belong at the state level where they can be most efficiently run.

Tres Wittum: Well, I want to say first off, I’m thirty-five years old, I’m a single male, I’m pro-life, I encourage pro-life in all aspects. But with that, in regards to what would you do on the first day of congress – I think we need to repeal the seventeenth amendment. The seventeenth amendment, it’s the direct election of U.S. Senators and the reason why that’s important is because if you’re a tenth amendment person, a states’ rights person – and I am – the Tennessee General Assembly knows best for Tennessee just like… California knows best for California. But you gotta understand the system of government and how it works. And so therefore, we gotta see where the system is broken, and if we repeal the seventeenth amendment, we can send ambassadors back from our state house to congress and then the states actually have the rights to determine – then Nashville can be heard. But these glorified congressmen who act like federal governors, they’re the ones who put the mandates on it, they’re the ones who have this federal overreach and they’re unchecked for six years. So what we gotta do is – we gotta check the system of government, check the functionality, and then the issues can fall into place – so it’s very simple, you gotta repeal the seventeenth amendment.

Natisha Brooks: As your Congresswoman of the 5th Congressional District – this effort by the Democrats will be defeated in committee and if it gets out of committee by some effort — I will vote “NO” on Nationalization of Abortion! I would [also] like to place an amendment on the floor for term limits of supreme court justices and the inability of the president to “pack the courts.”

About the Author: Paula Gomes is a Tennessee resident and reporter for The Tennessee Conservative. You can reach Paula at paula@tennesseeconservativenews.com.