Tennessee GOP split over adding abortion exceptions

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — For months, Tennessee’s Republican leaders have maintained that the state’s abortion ban — known as one of the strictest in the U.S. — allows doctors to perform the procedure, should they need to in order to save the patient’s life, even though the statute doesn’t explicitly say so.

This assertion was met with suspicion by health care professionals, attorneys, Democrats, and reproductive right advocates. They countered that the law created a new, dangerous legal landscape for women navigating pregnancy, as well as for medical providers.

Because some Republican lawmakers are isolated vouched for exceptions, this week a key legislative leader acknowledged that the skeptics had a point — and he thinks the law should be changed.

“You have all kinds of people who say: I don’t see it, can you point to it?” House Speaker Cameron Sexton said, about the statute’s unclear language around exemptions, in an interview with The Associated Press. “If that’s the intent, then let’s clarify it. Let’s have the exemption for the life for the mother.”

Sexton’s remarks are in sharp contrast to Gov. Rick Snyder and Senate Speaker Randy McNally. Both Republicans Bill Lee. Although all three Republicans are strongly opposed to abortion, Sexton, the only top Republican leader, has admitted that the ban could possibly be improved.

These divisions were evident as Tennessee state lawmakers returned to Knoxville this week to begin the 2023 legislative sessions. They could be the next front in legal battle over how and when to allow abortion bans in states that have Republican majorities.

With supermajority control, Tennessee Republicans are expected to advance a wide range of issues — from tax breaks, to harsher penalties for certain crimes, to policies that target treatment for transgender children — without much resistance. They will also have to confront a crisis within Tennessee’s Department of Children’s Services. flagged as failing to properly protect the state’s most vulnerable children. Sexton indicated that he will introduce legislation to allow teachers to take up six weeks of paid paternity and maternity leave.

The Republican rift on abortion has made it unclear what, if any, will happen.

Tennessee’s abortion ban is considered one of the nation’s strictest. This makes abortion a Class C crime, which can lead to up to 15 years imprisonment. There are currently no exceptions.

Instead, the law includes an “affirmative defense” for doctors. Instead of requiring the state to prove that the procedure was medically unnecessary, the law allows doctors to claim that it was.

In 2019, Tennessee lawmakers passed the law, when the U.S. Supreme Court was considering overturning the law. Roe v. Wade It was more of a hope for most Republicans than an imminent reality. At least one Republican state legislator has confessed that he voted in favor of Tennessee’s trigger law, despite not having read it. He didn’t think the high court would uphold the constitutional right to abortion.

Still, in an interview with The AP, McNally said he supports the current law and doesn’t think it should be changed, saying “we should see how it works out.”

McNally said he thinks the law provides protection for people who are pregnant, but “it’s not absolute because making a decision about the life of a mother is not absolute.”

He said “it could be something that there’s a small chance that it might harm her, or it could be a critical decision such as an ectopic pregnancy.” He said he generally has faith in prosecutors, since they can decide whether or not to bring charges under the law.

And though he said he would probably vote against a bill that would change the abortion law, McNally said abortion won’t be used as a “litmus test” for GOP senators. He said that he wouldn’t actively try to prevent a bill from being brought to the floor.

“I usually don’t get involved and usually trust the committee system, and certainly would in that issue,” McNally said.

Meanwhile, Lee has downplayed concerns that the abortion ban’s current language about exemptions has sparked confusion and fear in the medical community. As a vocal opponent of abortion rights, Lee has maintained that doctors can use “their best judgment” to save the pregnant person’s life.

Sexton claims that his support for abortion exceptions is in line with the majority Tennesseans desire, pointing out various polling that showed support for exemptions.

According to a recent Vanderbilt University poll, most registered voters in Tennessee said they wanted exceptions for rape or incest in the state’s sweeping abortion ban — and many don’t know the specifics of what’s in the law as it stands today.

Fewer than 1 in 5 were able to pick which of the statements Vanderbilt provided that most closely described the current abortion law’s requirements, according to Vanderbilt pollsters.

Sexton, however, said that he was unsure if the House GOP has enough support to add exemptions incest and for rape. He said that several bills in this session will provide tweaks to the ban.

“We need to, especially in our caucus, listen to all the women and let’s see what they say,” Sexton said. “You’re gonna have some who believe in (the) trigger (law), you’re gonna have some believe we need exceptions … but it needs to be a conversation where we listen instead of trying to talk to them about what we think is needed.”

Since its implementation in August last year, Tennessee’s abortion ban is unopposed by any legal challenges. But, states are facing legal challenges across the country for the restrictions they have imposed since the Supreme Court abortion ruling.

Recently, South Carolina’s Supreme Court. struck down a ban on abortion Six weeks into a pregnancy, the judge ruled that the Deep South state’s restriction violated a state constitution right to privacy.