Even some anti-abortion lawmakers asked pointed questions to clarify just how broad HB2779 is before the first votes were taken on Tuesday. The bill that effectively bans all abortions was completely rewritten this week and voted on in the House Health Subcommittee.
“So if there’s anything really badly wrong with the fetus, then that’s not an excuse?” asked Rep. Pat Marsh, R-Shelbyville.
“That’s correct,” answered Rejul Bejoy, the committee’s lawyer. “The language of the amendment does not touch on the viability of the fetus.”
The bill was filed as a fairly non-controversial measure but was amended at virtually the last possible moment in order to give enough time to pass the full legislature before the end of session.
Rep. Rebecca Alexander, R-Jonesborough, is the first-term lawmaker who is sponsoring the legislation. She formally introduced the amendment during Tuesday’s hearing.
“This bill is modeled directly after the legislation passed in Texas last year.” Alexander said, pointing out that abortions in Texas immediately fell by half. Many pregnant people, though, have been crossing state lines. “While the Texas law prohibits abortion once medical professionals can detect cardiac activity — usually around six weeks — the Tennessee language proposes to prohibit all abortion.”
The only exceptions in the Tennessee measure are if the life of the mother is endanger.
More: Read the bill summary here
Democrats voted no after raising concerns beyond protecting the right to an abortion. Rep. Bob Freeman, D-Nashville, posed that pregnant people who simply have a miscarriage could be questioned by anyone suspicious that they had an abortion.
One OB-GYN from Knoxville testified. Dr. Aaron Campbell said the proposal would complicate caring for people with miscarriages as well as isolate those who need help making a decision about abortion. Under the proposal, anyone who “aides or abets” in an abortion could be subject to a minimum $10,000 lawsuit, which can be filed by any citizen.
“This bill in particular creates an environment that does not allow appropriate support for our patients,” he said.
So far, the Texas law has been upheld in courts, which Rep. Alexander — who kept her comments to a minimum — pointed out during the hearing. The companion version in the Senate is scheduled for a committee vote Wednesday.
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