NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) \u2014 For months, Tennessee\u2019s Republican leaders have maintained that the state\u2019s abortion ban \u2014 known as one of the\u00a0strictest in the U.S. \u2014 allows doctors to perform the procedure, should they need to in order to save the patient\u2019s life, even though the statute doesn\u2019t explicitly say so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This assertion has been met with skepticism from health care experts, attorneys, Democrats and reproductive rights advocates, who counter that the law has created a dangerous, new legal landscape for those navigating pregnancy and for medical providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Since some isolated Republican lawmakers\u00a0vouched for exceptions, this week a key legislative leader acknowledged that the skeptics had a point \u2014 and he thinks the law should be changed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou have all kinds of people who say: I don\u2019t see it, can you point to it?\u201d House Speaker Cameron Sexton said, about the statute\u2019s unclear language around exemptions, in an interview with The Associated Press. \u201cIf that\u2019s the intent, then let\u2019s clarify it. Let\u2019s have the exemption for the life for the mother.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sexton\u2019s comments stand in stark contrast to the stances of Senate Speaker Randy McNally and Gov. Bill Lee, both Republicans. While all three lawmakers largely oppose abortion, Sexton is the lone, top Republican leader to concede that the ban could be clarified and improved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These divisions have emerged as state lawmakers returned to Tennessee\u2019s capitol city this week to start the 2023 legislative session. They could represent the next front in the legal fight over when and how to make exceptions to abortion bans in states with Republican majorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With supermajority control, Tennessee Republicans are expected to advance a wide range of issues \u2014 from tax breaks, to harsher penalties for certain crimes, to policies that target treatment for transgender children \u2014 without much resistance. They also must grapple with a crisis inside Tennessee\u2019s Department of Children\u2019s Services, which has been\u00a0flagged as failing to properly protect the state\u2019s most vulnerable children. Meanwhile, Sexton said he\u2019ll introduce legislation that would allow teachers to take up to six weeks of paid maternity and paternity leave.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yet on abortion, the Republican rift has left little certainty about what, if anything, will pass.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tennessee\u2019s abortion ban is considered one of the nation\u2019s strictest. It makes performing an abortion a Class C felony, punishable by up to 15 years in prison. There are currently no exceptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, the law includes an \u201caffirmative defense\u201d for doctors. Rather than make the state prove that the procedure was not medically necessary, the law shifts the burden to the doctor to argue in court that it was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tennessee lawmakers passed the law in 2019, when the idea of the U.S. Supreme Court overturning\u00a0Roe v. Wade\u00a0was a hope among most Republicans, rather than an impending reality. In the months since Tennessee\u2019s law has been in effect, at least one Republican state lawmaker has admitted that he voted for the trigger law after hardly reading it because he never thought the high court would revoke the constitutional right to abortion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, in an interview with The AP, McNally said he supports the current law and doesn\u2019t think it should be changed, saying \u201cwe should see how it works out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
McNally said he thinks the law provides protection for people who are pregnant, but \u201cit\u2019s not absolute because making a decision about the life of a mother is not absolute.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said \u201cit could be something that there\u2019s a small chance that it might harm her, or it could be a critical decision such as an ectopic pregnancy.\u201d He said he generally has faith in prosecutors, since they can decide whether or not to bring charges under the law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And though he said he would probably vote against a bill that would change the abortion law, McNally said abortion won\u2019t be used as a \u201clitmus test\u201d for GOP senators. He said he wouldn\u2019t actively work to block a bill from coming to the floor for a vote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI usually don\u2019t get involved and usually trust the committee system, and certainly would in that issue,\u201d McNally said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Lee has downplayed concerns that the abortion ban\u2019s current language about exemptions has sparked confusion and fear in the medical community. As a vocal opponent of abortion rights, Lee has maintained that doctors can use \u201ctheir best judgment\u201d to save the pregnant person\u2019s life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sexton says his support for abortion exceptions aligns with what most Tennesseans want, pointing to\u00a0various polling that showed support for exemptions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to a recent Vanderbilt University poll, most registered voters in Tennessee said they wanted exceptions for rape or incest in the state\u2019s sweeping abortion ban \u2014 and many don\u2019t know the specifics of what\u2019s in the law as it stands today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fewer than 1 in 5 were able to pick which of the statements Vanderbilt provided that most closely described the current abortion law\u2019s requirements, according to Vanderbilt pollsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, Sexton said he\u2019s unsure if there\u2019s enough House GOP support to add exemptions for rape and incest. Several bills this session will offer tweaks to the ban, he said.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe need to, especially in our caucus, listen to all the women and let\u2019s see what they say,\u201d Sexton said. \u201cYou\u2019re gonna have some who believe in (the) trigger (law), you\u2019re gonna have some believe we need exceptions … but it needs to be a conversation where we listen instead of trying to talk to them about what we think is needed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tennessee\u2019s abortion ban has not faced a legal challenge since it went into effect last August. However, legal challenges are popping up across the country against the strict restrictions that states have implemented since the Supreme Court\u2019s abortion ruling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Most recently, South Carolina\u2019s Supreme Court\u00a0struck down a ban on abortion\u00a0after about six weeks into pregnancy, ruling that the restriction enacted by the Deep South state violates a state constitutional right to privacy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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