April 9, 2001: Call today to Oppose SJR110 - Erodes Privacy Rights - Exempts abortion from protection by the State Constitution

Dear Friends,

As you know, a very dangerous constitutional amendment has been introduced in the 102nd Tennessee State Legislature. SJR110 is the constitutional amendment that would exempt abortion from protection guaranteed under the Tennessee Constitution. The amendment reads: "Any right to abortion in Tennessee shall only be such as is protected under the United States Constitution as interpreted by the United States Court, from time to time. Nothing in this Constitution shall be interpreted to require that any state funds be appropriated by the state to fund or pay for any abortion."

The resolution is scheduled to be heard in Senate Judiciary Committee tomorrow - Tuesday, April 10 at 3:30 p.m. Please call your state senator by 2:00 p.m tomorrow (Tuesday, April 10) if he or she serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Talking Points - SJR110 is troubling for a number of reasons.

1) SJR110 sets a precedent that could diminish the privacy protection afforded Tennesseans by the Tennessee Constitution. Privacy is a invaluable right that most Tennesseans embrace. While this resolution only focuses on abortion, any Tennessean who supports privacy should be concerned.

2) If SJR110 passed, and Roe v. Wade were overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, our State Constitution could not provide any additional privacy protection for women. (ie, Abortion would be illegal in our state).

Unfortunately, there is a likelihood that we might see efforts to overturn Roe if new Supreme Court justices are appointed.

3) It is typically unheard of for states to willingly give up rights guaranteed in their State Constitution.

4) Some supporting SJR110 are saying that these restrictions would have been upheld under the United States Constitution. In fact, using both the strict scrutiny standard under the State Constitution and the less rigorous undue burden standard under the US Constitution, the provisions would still be upheld.

Background - ACLU-TN, ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, and Planned Parenthood successfully challenged several restrictive provisions in the Tennessee Abortion Statute. In September 2000, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that several provisions were unconstitutional and that the Tennessee Constitution afforded women a right to privacy regarding her right to seek an abortion. The decision is momentous because it reaffirms the right to privacy found in the Tennessee Constitution.

If your legislator is not on the Senate Judiciary committee, you can still call your legislators and urge them to speak out against SJR110. The toll free number is 1-800-449-8366. If you do not know who your elected officials are, call your local election commission.

Please let us know what you hear. Many thanks for speaking out against SJR110.

Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director