What Should I Do With My Uterus? Let’s Put it to a Vote!

In this morning’s Nashville, TN newspaper:

Tennessee’s abortion protections are scheduled to come up for debate in the legislature today, in a critical vote that could determine whether the issue goes before voters in 2014.

What’s meant to go before voters – if/when it clears the state legislature – is an amendment to the state Constitution to say that “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.” Supporters plan to implement waiting periods, legislated scripts for doctors, and other restrictions if the amendment is passed.

Naturally pro-choice folks -including me – are concerned about: a) amending the Constitution to suggest fewer rights for women; b) putting it up to a popular vote in a conservative, religious state – 1 in 4 women have abortions in their lifetime, but realistically women are only about half the vote and many women who have personally exercised their right to an abortion in this state are unlikely to vocally oppose the measure where others can hear it; c) implementation of restrictions that will make it harder for women to access abortion and the possibility of medically/scientifically inaccurate consent scripts; d) the clearing of the way for a total statewide ban on abortion in the unlikely event of an overturn of Roe.

You can pretty much guess how this is going to turn out in the state legislature.

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