Did you know that Tennessee has some of the loosest abortion laws in the southeast? I didn’t, at least not until this year. As a strong conservative state my uninformed assumption had been that we fell in line with other prominent conservative states in largely restricting it. But then I started reading the facts and learned that Tennessee is the number three provider of abortions to out of state residents and how that 25% of all abortions in our state are performed for out of state residents. The reason for this is because at home they have a more difficult time having their unborn child killed so they come here where, apparently, we just haven’t cared. Shame on us!
But this fall we have the opportunity to change all of that. Perhaps driving around in residential neighborhoods you’ve seen lawn signs that say “Yes on 1.” You wondered to yourself what in the world that was. Then you drive on, thinking no more about it. Well, my friends, “1” is our opportunity to change the tide of abortion access in Tennessee and we need to take advantage of it.
“1” is referring to the proposed Amendment 1 to the constitution of the state of Tennessee. It is an amendment that intends to restore the language of our state constitution to read in such a way that we, the citizens of this state, through our elected representatives have greater ability to restrict people’s access to abortion. It will enable us to pass laws similar to those passed in other states in recent years that have all but shut down the vast majority of abortion clinics in those states, and hopefully do the same here.
All of this stems from a decision made in 2000 by the Tennessee Supreme Court who found that the state constitution assumed a fundamental right to abortion. Since then, with limited constitutional resources to reverse the course, that decision has opened the flood gates for people accessing abortions and has made our state an “abortion on demand” safe-haven. This amendment will fix that loop-hole and enable us to enact greater restrictions moving forward.
In fact, with this amendment in place we will have the ability to do things like require that women who are seeking abortion be fully informed about their decision, enforce a 24-hour waiting period for those seeking an abortion, subject abortion facilities to licensing and inspection procedures, and further ensure that tax dollars do not go to pay for abortions.
Now, with all of that said I know there is the lingering skepticism that exists. The skepticism is in voting for anything that continues to allow abortions. After all, we don’t want to restrict abortion we want to ban it. Trust me, we are on the same page. I’d love to see a law passed that said no abortion could ever be performed again. But sadly, we are not at a point where we can legally do that, though we should continue fighting toward that everyday. However, what we can do is restrict people’s access to abortion as much as we can and in the process save as many lives as possible. This amendment can help us do that.
So if you are for restricting abortions and if you are for putting the power to do so back into your hands, through your elected officials, then you want to vote YES on Amendment 1. Folks, this isn’t a matter of politics (right vs. left), this is a matter of morality (right vs. wrong). Let’s treat it that way and vote accordingly.
For more information visit http://www.yeson1tn.org.