Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Politics Playing in the Sandbox
Posted by Jeff Woods on Wed, Feb 6, 2008 at 9:32 AM
And they say they're not playing politics with abortion. Democrats are pushing a bill to require informed consent and waiting periods before abortions in Tennessee, and Republicans are fighting it in the state Senate. Democrats are rubbing it in this morning with this press release headlined "SENATE REPUBLICANS KILL PRO-LIFE BILL?"
Rather than support the Democratic bill, Republicans want to amend the state constitution to declare that there's no right to abortion in it. The Senate voted 23-9 for that resolution last week. But it must still pass the House this year (not going to happen), and then by both houses by two-thirds votes in the next general assembly (also not going to happen). Then it would go on the November 2010 ballot for ratification. In the GOP pipe dream, the resolution would charge up its base and produce not only a new constitutional amendment but a victory in the governor's race that year.
In Pith's favorite moment of yesterday's Senate Judiciary Committee meeting, Sen. Roy Herron, Democrat from Dresden, argued for his "pro-life" bill with a study produced by none other than the rabidly conservative Heritage Foundation.
Citing a Heritage Foundation study by Michael J. New, PhD, Herron argued that the measures provided in SB3512 would reduce abortions in Tennessee by approximately three a day. "Given the available data, it is reasonable to assume that the result of enacting this bill will be fewer abortions," he said. "Each day that you delay, approximately three abortions will take place. If you delay 70 days, over 200 women will chose to have abortions that might have been avoided if you had acted this evening."
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