April 4, 2008: SJR127 Back Again - Attack on Reproductive Freedom - Call you House Representative NOW to vote NO on pulling SJR127 to House Floor

Dear Friends:

SJR127 is the proposed constitutional amendment that would place language in the state constitution stating that there is no right to abortion and lay the groundwork to allow the legislature to ban abortion in Tennessee if Roe v. Wade were overturned. This bill was defeated in the House Public Health and Family Assistance subcommittee on Tuesday, February 26th.  

However , anti-choice groups are now attempting to bring SJR127 directly to the House floor for a vote.  They need 66 votes. Please contact your state representative now and remind him or her respect the committee structure and vote NO on pulling the defeated SJR127 from the sub-committee to the House Floor for a vote. As written, SJR127 is so extreme that it doesn't even make exceptions for victims of rape, incest or for women whose lives are in danger. 

Below is the alert we sent you in February with talking points about SJR127. Now it’s important to remind legislators that SJR127 was defeated in sub-committee and should not be brought to House Floor for a vote.

Many thanks,

Hedy

p.s. The easiest way to identify your legislator is to go to www.congress.org.  If you type in your zip code and click "go," you will get a list of all your elected officials. You may have to type in your full address if your zip code is split between more than one district.

From: ACLU of Tennessee
Sent: Friday, February 22, 2008 2:59 PM
To: ACLU of Tennessee
Subject: ALERT: SJR127 - attack on reproductive freedom - is in House on Tuesday - Contact Your House Rep NOW to Vote No to SJR 127

Dear ACLU-TN Alert Network:  

SJR127, the constitutional amendment that would take away the right to abortion , is up in the House Public Health and Family Assistance Sub-Committee on Tuesday, February 26th, at 10:30 a.m.   in Room 16 at Legislative Plaza.

In late January, the Senate passed SJR127 by a 23-9 vote . SJR127 supporters are so extreme that they blocked efforts to add language that would create an exception for victims of rape or incest who became pregnant or for women whose lives are in danger.

House representatives are being pressured by anti-choice forces to support SJR127. Please contact your representative NOW and ask him/her not to co-sponsor SJR127 and to vote against SJR127. Also ask him/her to respect the committee structure and not vote to move SJR127 out of committee and to the House Floor for a vote.

Many thanks,

Hedy

What You Need To Do:

Contact your state representative and tell them to vote NO on SJR127. The easiest way to identify your legislator is to go to www.congress.org.  If you type in your zip code and click "go," you will get a list of all your elected officials. You may have to type in your full address if your zip code is split between more than one district.

Talking Points:

• SJR127 is an all-out attack on Tennessee women and seeks to rob them of their right to make choices about their own health, safety and personal welfare.
• Historically, the State and United States Constitutions have been amended to expand rights, not to take away rights.
• Despite what the anti-choice forces are telling legislators, there are a number of Tennessee laws which already regulate abortion, including parental consent, a ban on late-term abortions and patient informed consent.
• The number of abortions in Tennessee is declining and the focus should be on how to prevent unwanted pregnancies by providing education and resources, not on taking away privacy rights.

Background:

The introduction of SJR127 is the result of the ACLU/Planned Parenthood victory in the Tennessee Supreme Court. We successfully challenged several restrictions in the Tennessee Abortion Statute, including the mandates that a woman seeking an abortion could only receive state-mandated information and counseling from a physician, and that she must subsequently wait 48 hours before returning to have the abortion performed.  In September 2000, the Tennessee Supreme Court afforded women a right to privacy regarding their right to seek an abortion.  For more information on this decision, please see “Additional Information on Women’s Access to Reproductive Health Care” at http://www.aclu-tn.org/currentlegislativealerts.htm.

Hedy Weinberg

Executive Director