Blackburn, Black argue against bill lifting abortion restrictions
By Paul Barton
Jackson Sun
Tuesday, July 15, 2014

A bill to roll back state restrictions on abortions drew the fire of two Tennessee Republicans Tuesday.

“This legislation would jeopardize and nullify hundreds of laws that protect both mothers and their unborn children,” testified Rep. Marsha Blackburn, R-Brentwood

“Abortions not only pose serious physical health risks, but endanger a woman’s mental health as well,” added Rep. Diane Black, R-Gallatin.

Their comments came as the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing on the Women’s Health Protection Act. The bill, which has 124 cosponsors in the House and 35 in the Senate, is an attempt to strike back at state laws passed in recent years making it more difficult for abortion clinics to stay in business and for women to have access to the procedure. The measure would prohibit states from applying restrictions to abortions not applied to other medical procedures.

The committee devoted the hearing to testimony from four women lawmakers who are outspoken on abortion rights — Blackburn and Black in opposition to them; Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., and Rep. Judy Chu, D-Calif., in support of them.

The two Democrats said the legislation addresses an urgent need to protect a woman’s rights under the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortions. They said those rights have been ground down by a deluge of 205 new restrictions in various states in just the past three years.

“Some politicians are doing this because they think they know better than women and their doctors,” Baldwin said.

“The fact is, they don’t. Women are more than capable of making their own personal, medical decisions without consulting their legislator.”

Added Chu: “Every woman should have access to affordable and comprehensive health care coverage that protects her right to choose.”

Chu said it shouldn’t matter “the state she resides in.”

One section of the bill goes into detail about the types of restrictions that would be lifted, including at least one that applies to Tennessee — the state’s prohibition on abortion services rendered by telemedicine.

In the telemedicine procedure, a doctor directs the application of the RU-486 pregnancy-ending drug without being in the same room as the mother, a situation some women prefer.

“The Women’s Health Protection Act is an extraordinarily broad, blunt instrument that through its ranging words would substitute the special interests of the abortion industry for both the well-being of women and the value of human life,” Blackburn said.

And Black said: “As a nurse, I can tell you that abortion is unlike any other medical procedure. This is an act that does not just involve the mother, but the child. It takes the life of an unborn child, and in the process, imposes many serious medical risks to the mother.”

Because the bill has no Republican support, it is unlikely to advance in either chamber.