April 13, 2001: Constitutional amendment exempting abortion to be heard April 17 - call now

Dear Friends,

The vote on SJR110 - the constitutional amendment exempting abortion from the privacy guarantees of the Tennessee Constitution - was deferred until next Tuesday, April 17 at 3:30 p.m. in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The primary Senate sponsor, David Fowler (Signal Mountain), who also serves on the committee, tried to vote the bill out without any debate (as he said, there are five members on this committee who are sponsors of SJR110 so why discuss it). Luckily another Senator asked that the meeting be adjourned and the the resolution be first on the calendar next Tuesday (April 17). Remaining optimistic, we are still hoping to change one of those five votes. Please get as many phone calls and faxes to Senators Mark Norris and Michael Williams as you can - if you are in their district.

The message: SJR110 would preclude TN courts from being able to insulate state constitutional decisions from US Supreme Court review. SJR110 effectively eliminates the TN Constitution as the independent interpreter of state law. For those who are typically "states rights" advocates and do not like the Federal courts, it is ironic that these particular legislators are sponsoring this resolution.

I am including my last alert which includes talking points and committee members' information:

Please call your state senator by 2:00 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, April 10) if he or she serves on the Senate Judiciary Committee. They are scheduled to hear the bill tomorrow afternoon.

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.

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. (i.e., 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 ourt 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.

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

Hedy Weinberg, Executive Director