Tennessee Senate joins House in passing narrow abortion exception bill
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A Tennessee bill to add narrow carve-outs to the state's no-exception abortion ban passed its final hurdle in the General Assembly on Wednesday.
The bill now goes to Gov. Bill Lee, who can either sign the bill or allow the bill to become law without his signature. It's unlikely he will veto the bill, which would allow doctors to legally perform abortions to save the life of a pregnant patient.
The legislation, Senate Bill 745, explicitly exempts ectopic and molar pregnancies from Tennessee's abortion ban, in addition to allowing doctors to perform abortions if in their "reasonable" medical judgment an abortion would prevent the death or "to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman."
More: Tennessee House passes narrow exceptions to state's total abortion ban
The bill initially received bipartisan support in the legislature, though Democrats called for broader abortion access, after Tennessee doctors decried the state's trigger ban as dangerous, and possibly deadly, for patients. Under current law, doctors must knowingly commit a felony when performing an abortion, even to save a patient's life.
But Republicans began dialing back the bill after pushback from anti-abortion advocate group Tennessee Right to Life. As Right to Life lobbyists stalled movement on the legislation, bill sponsors stripped language to allow abortions in the case of fatal fetal anomalies, such as when a fetus' heart grows outside of the body.
Senate sponsor Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, was among the earliest Republicans to call for changes to the state law after it took effect last fall, though he voted for the original bill. Briggs said he didn't fully understand the affirmative defense portion of the law, which puts the legal burden on doctors, and warned women could die or be seriously injured while physicians delay needed care.
More: Why doctors are decrying Tennessee's 'dangerous' abortion ban as lawmakers debate change
Some Republican senators have said they wished the bill did more, but they feared anti-abortion advocates would block any changes to the law if they attempted to push wider carve-outs through.
Republicans blocked several efforts on Wednesday by Democrats to add amendments to the bill, including restoring language allowing doctors to perform abortion under their "good faith" medical judgment. The bill as passed says "reasonable" judgment, which doctors argued still leaves them open to criminal prosecution.
Another effort to add rape and incest exceptions to Tennessee's abortion ban failed to advance past committee over anti-abortion advocate opposition earlier this year.
More: Tennessee bill to add rape, incest exceptions to abortion ban falters
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Senate passes narrow abortion exception bill
