Don’t amend Human Life Protection Act with more exceptions
The Tennessee General Assembly has convened and, again, the protection of life is a heavily debated issue. When the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the issue of abortion returned to the state legislatures. Few states were as poised as Tennessee to restore protection to the lives of unborn babies. The Human Life Protection Act passed in 2019 prohibited all medical and surgical elective abortions in Tennessee. The only exception to that law occurs when a doctor acts to save the life of the mother or protect her from irreversible physical harm.
There are several indisputable facts about this law that should be noted – facts, it seems, that a few members of the legislature and a large group of proabortion-rights doctors fail to understand or recognize.
This law prohibits elective abortions when the primary purpose is to terminate the life of the child, not to treat a separate condition. An elective abortion does not include the medical treatment of an ectopic pregnancy or a miscarriage or the tragic consequences of fetal death. Prosecutors will tell you that, if a physician acts in accordance with the law and has a viable affirmative defense during a preliminary investigation of the case, no criminal charges will be filed. The statements made by opponents of this law that an affirmative defense cannot be raised until trial is a gross exaggeration of the affirmative defense mechanism.
Doctors acting in good faith will not go to jail because of this law. Proper training informs doctors on the difference between an elective abortion and one necessary to save the life of the mother. A similar “affirmative defense” provision has been in place here in Tennessee since 2017 along with laws in Ohio and Kentucky, and not one doctor has been arrested, much less prosecuted.
Another important fact is a woman seeking or receiving an abortion cannot be prosecuted in Tennessee under this law.
Women are not dying in Tennessee because of this law. This legislation, which is meant to stop elective abortions and allows physicians to terminate pregnancies where the mother’s life is in danger, has no vehicle whereby a mother loses her life.
There is no exception in this law for survivors of rape or incest. Abortion always ends a human life, regardless of the circumstances surrounding the conception of that human life. The Human Life Protection Act protects all unborn babies. While occurrences of rape and/or incest are tragic, there is no medical evidence that suggests that terminating the life of the child in the womb aids in the healing of the woman. The violent act of rape or incest is not remediated by the violent act of abortion.
Babies are not being left uncared for because of the “forced birth” issue that stems from the Human Life Protection Act. With hundreds of pregnancy resource centers and care centers in the state of Tennessee and numerous adoption agencies, Tennessee has a strong safety net for children born from unplanned pregnancies and for their mothers.
Tennessee is an anti-abortion state. Tennesseans proved this in 2014 with the passage of Amendment 1 and continue to prove this by electing an antiabortion-rights supermajority in the legislature.
Those who are seeking exceptions to this law will not stop with just exceptions; they intend to dismantle it. If the General Assembly wishes to honor the will of its people, it will leave the Human Life Protection Life Act in place as it was purposefully drafted and intended.
Angela Maden is vice president of Tennessee Right to Life.