Tennessee passes heartbeat bill

The Tennessee Senate voted for sweeping protections for the unborn early on Friday morning. The fetal heartbeat bill had faltered over the past few months as lawmakers shifted priorities to the coronavirus pandemic. But senators unexpectedly brought it to the floor late Thursday amid budget negotiations after the House passed it earlier that afternoon. Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, said he would sign the bill into law, while the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee announced its plans to challenge the bill in court.

What will the law do? The legislation protects unborn babies after they have a detectable heartbeat, which can be as early as six weeks of gestation. It also includes safeguards for the unborn children of girls in juvenile detention, babies with Down syndrome, and those who might be aborted because of their sex or race. Abortionists now will have to offer more information to the mother, including the possibility of reversing chemical abortions, revealing ultrasound images, and explaining the age and development of the child in the womb. The measure offers an exception if the mother’s life is in danger, but there are no exceptions for children conceived by rape or incest. The law, if struck down by the courts, has a provision to change in increments the number of weeks of protection for the unborn from six weeks to as many as 24 weeks.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read my report in Vitals about why Tennessee Right to Life gave lukewarm support to last year’s version of the heartbeat bill.