Tennessee doctors could be imprisoned for performing "partial birth" abortions under legislation proposed by Rep. Steve Godsey, R-Blountville. His Tenn. state House bill proposes making the procedure a felony, carrying 3 to 15 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.
"Partial birth" abortion is one method to abort a fetus late (20 to 24 weeks) in pregnancy when the woman's life is in danger or the fetus has severe birth defects. Dr. Mark Hennessy, an obstetrician/gynecologist at UT Medical Center stressed that he had "never heard the term before it became an issue in Congress. Only a few are performed a year in the country. I've never even heard of a case in Tennessee."
A state Senate bill may be patterned after the federal legislation which the U.S. Congress passed last year, but which Clinton vetoed. The federal bill was less harsh than Godsey's proposed bill, in that it would have only allowed for civil penalties and/or two years imprisonment of doctors. The state Senate bill's possible sponsor, Keith Jordan, R-Franklin, argued, "If a mother's physical health is in danger" some consideration should be given, but "What constitutes a serious deformity? The language has to be precise."
Barbara Baldwin, director of Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee said, "Nobody likes a late-term abortion, but I certainly would oppose anything that would not enable a physician to save the life of a woman and that would mandate that a woman carry a dead fetus to term." The bill is certain to stir opposition between anti-abortion forces and advocates of abortion rights.
Last Modified June 8, 1997