Washington, D.C. Newsroom, Jun 27, 2020 / 05:01 am
Tennessee's new pro-life legislation is "designed to stand up to court challenges," State Rep. Susan Lynn (R), a sponsor of the bill, said Thursday.
Speaking during an interview on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly Friday, Lynn said that Tennessee lawmakers anticipated a legal challenge to the bill, so they used a "ladder approach," of multiple limits, so if the court strikes down the heartbeat ban portion, the remaining bans will remain in place.
Tennessee lawmakers passed a bill last week that contains multiple restrictions on abortion, including banning the procedure after both six and twenty weeks, banning abortions based on the race or sex of an unborn child, and a ban based on a prenatal Down syndrome diagnosis.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a supporter of the legislation, has indicated he will sign it into law.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We have passed the strongest pro-life law in our state's history and I am grateful to <a href="https://twitter.com/ltgovmcnally?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@ltgovmcnally</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/CSexton25?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CSexton25</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/SenJohnson?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@SenJohnson</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/WilliamLamberth?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WilliamLamberth</a> and members of our General Assembly for making the heartbeat bill law.</p>— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovBillLee/status/1273986028890710016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 19, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Although the bill has not yet been signed into law, pro-abortion groups including Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have already filed a lawsuit against to block its implementation in federal court. Similar legislation has been challenged and blocked from implementation in other states.
"There's a successive order of dates where the court can reach that level where they feel comfortable," Lynn said.
Lynn said she hopes the bill's heartbeat ban stands because "a heartbeat is an indicator of life."
"So it only makes sense that when there is a heartbeat, there cannot be an abortion," she said.
Lynn praised the Tennessee General Assembly as "overwhelmingly pro-life."
"Now is the time to pass strong pro-life legislation," she said.
Lynn also called for prayers for the bill's success.
"We have great legal minds working on this and great legal minds who are ready, willing, and able to defend this, but we still need everybody's prayers," she said.
