Abortion shouldn't be between a woman and her government | Opinion
In America all men are created equal. Women’s equality is being decided on a state-by-state basis. Since the overturning of Roe v. Wade, all 52 states have been debating how many rights women should have and arriving at very different conclusions. A South Carolina court has ruled women have a right to privacy. Kentucky voters defeated an amendment to the state constitution to ban abortion. In Tennessee the state legislature has passed arguably the most restrictive legislation in the country: all abortions are illegal with no exceptions for rape, incest or the health of the mother.
Many churches are on the front lines of the anti-abortion movement, yet most theological schools do not offer a single course on women’s health. It is possible to be educated for the ministry without being able to understand or explain the dangers of an ectopic pregnancy to your congregation. Other potentially deadly situations can arise due to diabetes, kidney disease, high blood pressure, anemia, peripartum cardiomyopathy, sepsis, preeclampsia and eclampsia. This list is not exhaustive.
In seminaries there are often classes to discuss the concept of a “just war” but rarely any attention given to the concept of a “just abortion.” The powers of moral discernment tend to focus on “men’s issues” rather than “women’s issues.” In the 1960s veterans of the Vietnam War were tagged with the same insult as women entering family planning clinics today: baby killer! We need to rise above name calling and grapple with the complexity of the issues involved with more respect for each other than that.
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Too often the laws of our country are written by men, interpreted by men, applied by men, addressing the concerns of men and demonstrating a marked obliviousness toward women. Our state legislature is made up of mostly men (only 14% women) even though there are 100 women living in our state for every 95 men. Will Tennessee women be granted rights equal to those of women in other states? We will have to wait and see what the men decide. In the meantime, this is a good time for women to think about running for public office.
Senate Bill 983 would offer common-sense exceptions to the absolute ban on abortion. These exceptions include medically necessary treatments when the life of the mother is in danger. State Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, is a medical doctor who supports this effort, arguing that physicians must be allowed to keep their professional oaths to save the lives of their patients without fear of being prosecuted by the state.
State Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes, R-East Ridge, is one of the sponsors of companion bill HB778, saying there needs to be an exception for the life of the mother. “I believe moms matter,” she explains. “Oftentimes they have babies at home that need them, and that’s why I am carrying this bill.” It is supported by the Tennessee Medical Association.
State Sen. Ferrel Haile, R-Gallatin, has sponsored SB857, which would legalize abortions in the event of rape or incest. State Rep. Yusuf Hakeem, D-Chattanooga, has filed a bill to make exceptions for mental health as well as physical health. State Rep. Karen Camper, D-Memphis, and state Sen. London Lamar, D-Memphis, are co-sponsoring the Fundamental Right to Reproductive Health Care Act, HB0829/SB0762, stating that every person has the right to make their own decisions about their own reproductive health care without interference from the government.
A poll conducted by Vanderbilt University shows that 80% of Tennesseans support abortion under some circumstances. The challenge now is to get 80% of the people to speak out, write their legislators and turn up at the polls on election day.
In America we say, “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America.” However, today women live in a country with a patchwork quilt of different laws and policies in every state. States' rights trump women’s rights. In South Carolina women have the right to privacy. In Kentucky women have the freedom to choose. In Tennessee women have no such rights or freedoms. The Tennessee Medical Association and 80% of Tennesseans reject this kind of extremism.
I invite you to consider all the bills that are being introduced. I urge you to support any of them that come up for a vote in our legislature. A woman should be able to make her own choice about her own health in consultation with her own doctor and with the guidance of her own faith tradition. Some choices should be between a woman and her God, not a woman and her government.
Chris Buice is minister of the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Opinion: Abortion shouldn't be between a woman and her government
