by Rusty Pugh
(AgapePress) – The Tennessee General Assembly is considering a measure that would potentially restrict access to abortions. A pro-life group is taking a proactive approach to correct what they see as a bad court ruling in that state.
The Tennessee Senate has passed a resolution to amend the state constitution to ensure abortion rights in Tennessee are no broader than those guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life, says his group has gone on the offensive to correct what he calls “a terrible State Supreme Court ruling” in Tennessee that said abortion rights there should be broader than those allowed by the federal government.
“Consequently, we lost even the most basic, common-sense protections for women, including a 48-hour waiting period, a provision that said women had the right to be informed of risks inherent in the abortion procedure, and even a provision that said that abortions after the first trimester had to be performed in a regulated hospital. All of those were stricken down … so we were basically left with a much more radical abortion-on-demand policy than even allowed under Roe v. Wade.
Harris says this resolution is not an attempt to completely ban abortion — though he says he would like to see that. “Certainly our long-term goal is to reverse the holding of Roe and to protect every life [as much] as possible,” he says, “but our goal right now is to just reinstate these basic, common-sense protections.”
He says the resolution is designed to at least give women the opportunity to get all the information they need before they decide whether to have an abortion. The Tennessee House takes up the measure in January.
RU-486 Ad Campaign
Meanwhile, a pro-life group says abortion providers are waging a campaign of misinformation about RU-486, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services is helping that cause. The National Association of Abortion Providers is launching a magazine advertising campaign in twelve major publications this summer to promote the deadly abortion drug.
Scott Weinberg of the American Life League says this abortion regimen is something that most American women do not want, yet this multimillion-dollar ad campaign will spread misinformation about the drug. Weinberg says the Bush Administration has given it a virtual endorsement.
“We're concerned that Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson has gone on national television and essential downplayed the lethal and harmful risks of the RU-486 abortion regimen, and that this ad follows on the heels of that virtual endorsement from Secretary Thompson,” Weinberg says. “On the one hand we're very concerned by this misinformation campaign, but we have to acknowledge the fact that they're having a hard time selling it so they need to do this ad campaign.”
Weinberg says the maker of the drug is having a hard time selling the drug because the dangers associated with its use are well documented. He says the sole purpose of the drug is the taking of human life.
(This update courtesy of Agape Press.)
