Power

Roundup: Tennessee May Amend Constitution to Allow for Anti-Abortion Laws

Tennessee steps closer to a constitution that doesn't protect a right to abortion; Arizona has a new anti-abortion law; Filippino president risks ex-communication for reproductive health bill; and the reproductive health needs of women in prison.

TN state flag, photo by euthman

Tennessee steps closer to a constitution that doesn’t protect a right to abortion; Arizona has a new anti-abortion law; Filippino president risks ex-communication for reproductive health bill; and the reproductive health needs of women in prison.

  • The Tennessee legislature is moving towards amending the state constitution to allow radical anti-abortion laws. The state senate recently approved language stating “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.” The senate rejected language that would have provided Constitutional protections for women whose lives are in jeopardy or who are victims of rape or incest. If the state house approves the language, it will be put to voters.
  • Arizona governor Jan Brewer has signed another anti-abortion law; this time banning the state Nursing Board from deciding whether nurse practitioners are capable of performing first-trimester abortions.
  • The president of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino, says he would rather be excommunicated than give up on a controversial reproductive health bill. A debate has been raging in the heavily Catholic nation over the legislation, which would provide education about and access to various contraceptive methods. 
  • Women in prison need reproductive health care, too. Read an interview with Dr. Carolyn Sufrin, an OB/GYN who serves incarcerated women in San Francisco to learn more about the special needs of women in prison.

Apr 18