Tag: heartbeat bill

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Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’

CREDIT: Matt Anderson

Cherisse Scott

Head of a Memphis organization that works for reproductive justice was cut short during her testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee Tuesday as she spoke against legislation that would essentially ban abortion in Tennessee. 

Cherisse Scott, founder and CEO of SisterReach, an organization meant to help women and girls of color, women living in low-income and rural areas, and the LBGTQ community obtain reproductive justice, was cut off five minutes into what was meant to be a 10-minute testimony by chairman of the committee Senator Mike Bell (R-Riceville).

“Reproductive justice seeks to liberate and emancipate vulnerable populations from all forums of reproductive and sexual oppression,” Scott said early in her testimony. “It challenges us to expand our analysis beyond abortion to be inclusive of the myriad of other issues that preclude women and people that give birth from achieving reproductive and sexual autonomy.”

Scott called the legislation in question an “outright and intentional abandonment by the Tennessee state legislator of these vulnerable people.”

She said the legislation would be the “final straw in a political pattern of vile, racist, un-American, and un-Christian legislation.”

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Scott continued citing “harmful” policy making that intersects with abortion rights. She noted the need for sexual education in schools, access to health care, education reform, and more behavioral and mental health care.

She said the legislators have “created an environment that leads Tennesseans to need more abortions, under-care or neglect their children, regardless of whether or not they want to or able to parent.

“And if all this isn’t heartbreaking enough, you weild your political power in Jesus’ name,” Scott said. “Many of you who claim to be conservative Christians have weaponized the word of God to forward your political agendas and maintain power and control over the most vulnerable Tennesseans. You manipulated Biblical scripture to align with your colonialism and supremacist ideologies, instead of showing mercy.”

Matt Anderson

Cherisse Scott continues to speak as she is approached by the sergeant-in-arms

This is when Bell interrupted Scott: “That’s enough. Your time is up.”

Scott continued to speak though, prompting Bell to call for the sergeant-in-arms to escort Scott from the room.

“I have sat here and I have watched you all to allow people to talk and talk, but you won’t allow me to talk as a Christian because I disagree with the way that you believe?” Scott said, noting that she hadn’t gone over her allotted 10 minutes.

Bell asked for Scott’s microphone to be turned off, as she continued to speak, and then he called for a five-minute recess, and left the room.

“Either you care about people’s bodies or you do not,” Scott told the committee. “Either you are here to save my life or you are not. Stop being an impostor of God’s word and do your jobs.”

Scott’s words garnered applause and cheers from members of the audience. Watch Scott’s interrupted testimony here or read the entire testimony here.

Of the 21 witnesses that spoke before the committee, Scott was the only one prohibited from completing her testimony. She was also the only African-American witness, and one of nine women.

SisterReach called the committee’s actions a “bold declaration of the staunch, disrespectful, and dismissive attitude toward women.” 

Many watching the hearings agreed and took it to Twitter.

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (4)

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (5)

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (2)

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (6)

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (7)

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (8)

The legislation up for discussion, sponsored by Senator Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) seeks to redefine viability and outlaw abortion at the moment of conception, or when a woman finds out she is pregnant.

Others who testified against the legislation include Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee. Weinberg called the arguments made in support of the legislation “certainly creative,” but “irrational.”

“Abortion restrictions disproportionally harm women in rural areas and women with limited incomes,” Weinberg said. “Forcing a woman to carry to term increases existing hardships. It’s unconstitutional.”

If the bill is passed, Weinberg said the ACLU will sue and “We will win.”

Group Calls Committee’s Interruption of CEO’s Testimony ‘Disrespectful,’ ‘Dismissive’ (3)

Wrapping up the two-day hearing, Pody admitted that the issue is “very, very contentious,” but also “extremely important.”

Pody also noted that the bill isn’t “necessarily a heartbeat bill” and that no other state is “hearing something like this.”

“I think it’s going to boil down to this: When does life begin?” Pody said. “And who’s going to decide? So far it’s been decided by the Supreme Court, but I believe at one point everybody thought the world was flat. I believe at one point, people of color didn’t have the same rights,

“I believe at one point, women didn’t have the same rights. As we grow as a society, we want to make sure everybody’s protected. If there’s life in the womb and that life is human, I believe that that life deserves protection as well.”

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Tennessee Lawmakers Plan Hearings on Six-Week Abortion Ban Next Week

CREDIT: Maya Smith

Maya Smith

Ashley Coffield speaks at a Thursday press conference

State lawmakers are slated to hold hearings next week on legislation that would ban abortions at six weeks in Tennessee.

Last spring, the Tennessee General Assembly came close to passing similar legislation — the Heartbeat Bill, which would have blocked abortions after a heartbeat is detected — but it stalled in the Senate.

Facebook/Mark Pody

Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon)

Now, Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon), one of the co-sponsors of last year’s bill is pushing to bring back the Heartbeat Bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a two-day hearing on Monday and Tuesday of next week to discuss the legislation.

Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi (PPTNM), said at a Thursday press conference that the six-week ban is “unpopular, dangerous for Tennessee women, and it’s unconstitutional.” Coffield said PPTNM is urging the Senate committee to drop the legislation, as abortion is a “critical component of women’s reproductive health care.”

“A six-week abortion ban goes too far, inserting government in personal private lives,” Coffield said. “The bill is intended to ban all abortion in our state. It’s important that abortion remain a safe and legal option for women to consider when and if she needs it.”

Banning abortions threatens the “autonomy and individual freedom of people in Tennessee,” Coffield added.

“The truth is, banning abortion does not eliminate abortion,” Coffield said. “It just makes it less safe, and it puts pregnant women and their families at risk.”

She also noted that in other states that have passed six-week bans, including Kentucky, Mississippi, Iowa, North Dakota, and Ohio, the court has “easily blocked these bans,” on the basis that it is unconstitutional for states to prohibit a woman from choosing abortion before viability.

As set by Roe v. Wade, viability occurs in the 24th week of pregnancy.

“If passed in Tennessee, the six-week abortion ban will be challenged in court,” Coffield said. “Just like every other state that’s passed similar laws, we would be setting Tennessee up for an expensive lawsuit that wastes hundreds of thousands of dollars in taxpayer money.”

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President of the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT), David Fowler, helped draft the new version of the bill to be discussed next week.

On this week’s episode of the FACT Report, a one-minute commentary featured on conservative radio stations in the state, Fowler said under the precedent of Roe v. Wade the heartbeat bill is “clearly” unconstitutional. But, he said “Roe’s constitutional reasoning has been sharply criticized from the beginning by liberal and conservative lawyers.”

“Surprisingly, in 46 years, no state has passed a bill that directly attacks Roe’s foundations,” Fowler said. “For 46 years, the Court has not been forced to re-examine Roe’s reasoning.

“So, the real question these senators must answer is whether it’s time to stop cowering before the U.S. Supreme Court by attacking Roe in roundabout ways and pass a bill that forces the issue,”  Fowler continued. “Roe seems like a giant to overcome, but God has used His people to slay giants before. It’s time we take on the giant.”

Coffield said PPTNM is urging Tennesseans to come to the hearing in Nashville next week to “make their voices heard.”

“These hearings are the most important days of action this whole summer,” a post on PPTNM’s Facebook page reads. “It is imperative that we show our elected officials that Tennesseans do not support a ban on abortion. With your presence, we will make our voices heard.”

PPTNM is offering free travel to Nashville from Memphis by bus on Monday. Contact Tory at tmills@pptnm.org for details. For those who want to spend the night, the group is also assisting with lodging. Contact Julie at jedwards@pptnm.org for more information.

After the hearing on Tuesday, Coffield said there will be a “people’s hearing” to give the public a chance to voice their opinions. She said speakers will include physicians, attorneys, and women who’ve had abortions.

“It’ll really be centered around the experience of women who have had abortions,” Coffield said. “Those people will not be allowed to speak during the hearings. So those are the people we need to hear from.”

Read the full amended version of the legislation below.

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Letter From The Editor Opinion

The Usual Shenanigans

Hey, it’s March! Which means it’s time for my annual rant about the Tennessee General Assembly.

A little background: For the past few sessions, since the post-2010 census gerrymandering by the Republican majority in 2012, the Democratic Party has basically been neutered. The House has 73 Republicans and 26 Democrats. The Senate is even more lopsided, with 28 Republicans and 5(!) Democrats. Yes, Tennessee is a red state, but no one could honestly claim that this level of party imbalance represents the political leanings of the populace.

Take a look at the Senate district map if you want to see how gerrymandering can pervert the democratic process. Some Tennessee counties are split into three, four, or even five districts in a effort to concentrate Democratic votes into fewer areas and spread GOP power. The Tennessee Constitution requires that state Senate districts “preserve counties whole where possible.” Yeah. That didn’t happen.

Tennessee is basically a one-party government. There are no checks and balances. There is nothing to impede the rural know-nothings who dominate the General Assembly from following their worst instincts. By that, I mean introducing bills that put the screws to the state’s cities, which are — coincidentally, no doubt — home to most of the state’s Democrats.

For a particularly absurd example, consider the recently introduced “Bag and Straw” bill, a measure that would make it illegal for municipalities to “regulate plastics,” i.e. banning or charging a fee for single-use plastic items, such as plastic bags or drinking straws. The discussion of the bill in the chamber centered around such horrific measures as have been passed in California (home of Pelosi liberals and those disgusting conservationists). There was no mention of the fact that Memphis is working on plans to phase out plastic bags, but it’s pretty obvious the measure was intended as a direct poke in the eye to the Bluff City.

Representative Susan Lynn, R(duh)-Mount Juliet, the bill’s sponsor, claimed that straw bans “abuse freedom.” The freedom to pollute? You tell me.

It’s just the latest in a long line of legislative actions meant to exert state control over issues that rightly belong to municipalities. Other examples include bills to prevent cities from passing minimum-wage laws; deciding what statuary belongs in city parks; passing anti-discrimination hiring ordinances, etc. And on the list goes.

Of course, in addition to the state legislature’s annual attempts to micro-manage the state’s uppity cities, there are the annual attempts to impose Christian Sharia Law. This go-around, there is much enthusiasm in the Capitol for the patently un-Constitutional “fetal heartbeat bill,” which prohibits abortion after a fetus’ heartbeat has been detected (typically at six weeks), with no exceptions for rape or incest — and no consideration of the fact that such bills have been struck down repeatedly in federal court. (For a more in-depth discussion of this bill, see Megan Rubenstein’s Viewpoint on page 9.)

And what General Assembly session would be complete without an attempt to pour millions of taxpayers’ dollars into private and religious schools’ coffers via vouchers? This time around, it’s being championed by newly elected Governor Bill Lee, who is pushing lawmakers to approve a plan that would divert $25 million in funds slated for public education to a voucher program that would give money to parents to put their kids in private schools.

Tennessee’s public schools are already among the lowest-funded in the country, and the state’s teachers are strapped and underpaid. So this move is especially galling for them. Here’s my view: You want to send your kid to a private or religious school? Go for it. Just don’t ask me to pay for it.

If the voucher bill passes this time around and public school funding gets cut, I wouldn’t be shocked to see the state’s public school teachers emulate their peers in Oklahoma, West Virginia, Kentucky, and elsewhere, and go on strike. If they do, I suspect they’ll find a lot of support, maybe even enough to get the Nashville Hillbillies to pay attention.

Bruce VanWyngarden

brucev@memphisflyer.com