Tennessee lawmakers approve abortion restriction measures News
Tennessee lawmakers approve abortion restriction measures

[JURIST] Tennessee lawmakers on Tuesday approved two measures that, if signed into law, will require state abortion clinics to be licensed as surgical centers and require women to wait 48 hours after receiving counseling before being able to get an abortion. The measures have been sent to Republican Governor Bill Haslam [official website], who is expected to sign [Reuters report] them into law. The 48-hour waiting period was approved in a 79-18 vote, and the new clinic regulations were approved 79-17. Despite the wide margin in the votes, there was still contention [The Tennessean report] among legislators on the subject. Democratic Representative John Ray Clemmons stated, “The ultimate effect of this is putting an obstacle in the path of a woman seeking to exercise her constitutional right to an abortion.” Republican supporters of the measures, however, insist that the proposed requirements are meant to protect women’s health. According to the Guttmacher Institute [website], 22 states currently require centers performing abortions to meet ambulatory surgical center standards and 26 states require waiting periods.

Reproductive rights [JURIST backgrounder] continue to be a hotly debated legal issue throughout the US, with a number of state legislatures proposing laws to limit abortion. This month Alabama state representative Teri Collins proposed a bill to ban abortion once a fetal heartbeat has been detected. Also in April Kansas Governor Sam Brownback [official website] signed a bill [press release] that bans all forms of dismemberment abortion unless necessary to protect the life or health of the mother. Earlier this month Wisconsin Attorney General Brad Schimel appealed[JURIST report] a federal court ruling that struck down a law requiring doctors performing abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. In March Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed a bill [JURIST report] that requires abortion providers in the state to tell women they can reverse the effects of a drug-induced abortion and also bars women from buying any health care plan through the federal marketplace that includes coverage for abortions. Also in March the West Virginia Legislature overrode [JURIST report] the governor’s veto, passing a bill banning abortion after 20 weeks.