A group of Republican lawmakers in Tennessee has officially introduced a new law restricting abortions that is heavily modeled after the heartbeat bill from Texas that seeks to ban most abortions.
Tennessee already sports some of the most stringent pro-life laws in the country. This new bill would take steps to make these already strong laws a step further, and allow private citizens the ability to file civil lawsuits against anyone who performs a now illegal abortion.
“This bill is modeled directly after the legislation passed in Texas last year. Abortions since that bill has been passed have dropped 60% in Texas,” stated the bill’s current sponsor, Republican Rep. Rebecca Alexander, to a House subcommittee this past Tuesday.
The House panel has pushed the bill through just as it was brought to them, but it would still need to get through the state’s Senate and House before the governor gets the chance to sign it into law.
The recent law from Texas has created extreme and widespread issues from various abortion activists, but despite all of that, the Supreme Court has continued to allow the legal measure to stay in place.
“The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Texas law to remain in place until a court challenge is decided on its merits. The Texas Supreme Court ruled against abortion providers last week, dealing what many consider to be the final blow to their legal challenges,” claimed USA Today.
This choice from Teneesee legislators comes directly in the wake of the Idaho House of Representatives, which put forth a new bill on Monday to mirror Texas’ law to ban abortions after the first six weeks of pregnancy.
Known as the “Fetal Heartbeat, Preborn Child Protection Act,” Senate Bill 1309 skirted through with a 51-14 vote on Monday. The bill has officially been placed on the desk of Gov. Brad Little to await a signature.
As reported by the Daily Wire:
The bill was passed with strong support in the Republican-led state government.
“We heard in testimony in the committee; we heard in testimony here today that this will end many abortions in Idaho,” the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. Steven Harris said. “Let’s save some babies.”
Republican state Rep. Barbara Ehardt, who co-sponsored the legislation, also spoke on behalf of reducing abortions in her state.
“Abortion is not a constitutional right,” Ehardt said. “The Supreme Court in 1973 did something that was never allowed in the first place.”
Along with both of these, another similar bill has been announced by Gov. Kristi Noem back on March for Life Day in January.
“Every human life is unique and beautiful from the moment it is conceived. Every life is worthy of our protection, worthy of the right to live,” stated Noem about that announcement.
“We hope that this year’s March for Life will be the last and that the Supreme Court will finally protect every unborn life. But until that comes to pass, these bills will ensure that both unborn children and their mothers are protected in South Dakota,” she concluded.
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