Pro-life legislation pending before Tennessee’s General Assembly has received a sponsor in the State House.
State Senator Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald) originally filed SB2158, a bill prohibiting Local Education Associations (LEA) or public charter schools from doing business with abortion providers. State Representative Debra Moody (R-Covington filed HB2557, the state House companion version, last week. LEAs are a homeschooling option in Tennessee.
The Senate version bill has been referred to the Senate Education Committee after passing on second consideration on the same day the House companion version was filed.
The Tennessee Star previously reported that this legislation stresses the importance of children, life, and family, saying: “WHEREAS, children are a gift from God and deserve our protection from the time of conception and continuing into their childhood and education; and WHEREAS, family life education is a fundamentally important aspect of education, and the teaching of family life requires a dignity and respect for life.”
The bills amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 49-6-1303, adding prohibitions for LEAs and public schools or open-enrollment public charter schools to enter into transactions to “assist in teaching family life” with an entity or an individual that performs abortions, induces abortions; provides abortion referrals, or provides funding, advocacy, or other support for abortion.
LEAs and public charter schools are prohibited from doing business with entities that perform abortions, induce abortions, provide abortion referrals, or provide advocacy, funding, or other support for abortion.
For the purposes of this legislation, abortion is defined as “the act of using or prescribing an instrument, medicine, drug, device, or other substance or means with the intent to terminate the clinically diagnosable pregnancy of a woman with knowledge that the termination by those means will with reasonable likelihood cause the death of the unborn child.” It does not include acts that save the life of the mother, save the life or preserve the health of the unborn child, provide for the removal of a dead unborn child caused by miscarriage, or the removal of an ectopic pregnancy.
This is not the first pro-life legislation that Moody has filed. In 2021, Moody introduced HB1425, also known as the “Every Mom Matters Act.” That legislation would have required a woman to “complete a free resource access consultation with the department of health prior to having an abortion.”
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Aaron Gulbransen is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected]