Dumb laws

In a report by the Center for Reproductive Rights called What if Roe Fell?, Tennessee is highlighted as a "green" state - that is one of the states likely to protect abortion rights if there were a reversal of the Roe v Wade Decision.

Is Tennessee still the greenest state in the land of the free?

Well, it won't be if Tennessee House Bill 3199 (link to a PDF) goes through. This is a law which requires a woman notify the impregnating male of her intention to get an abortion.

There's a get-out clause for rape, but only if it's been reported to the police.

This isn't just telling a man you're married to (not that I approve of spousal notification, if you're not telling your husband of your intention to have an abortion, I suspect there's a pretty good reason - after all, wife battering often picks up during pregnancy). This isn't just telling someone you're in a relationship with, this is trying to find and tell any possible roll-in-the-hay-lay you might have had.

Can't find him? Don't know who he is? That's ok, sugar, you just march yourself down to the local department of children's services and file a notice with them with the name of the putative father (Rachel of Women's Health News has more on the possible delaying implications of this provision).

I have to wonder what that's going to be like - are county children's services geared up for this kind of thing. No doubt lawmakers imagine a waiting room full of rosy-cheeked cherubs lovingly held in the arms of their hard-pressed, but feisty moms swaying the resolve of the abortion-seeker (my guess is these guys probably haven't had to wait in such a lobby ever). Or maybe they just want to pile on the humiliation.

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When I first read about this here, here and here, yesterday, I have to say I was really in a state of disbelief - surely Mr. TV on the Fritz, who first spotted it, had fallen for some kind of hoax. No sensible lawmaker would propose such a bill. But I found it on the state legislature site (where you can track progress of this bill) and then I remembered that we were talking about the state house...not a place 100% populated by sensible lawmakers.

Aunt B of Tiny Cat Pants says:

Yes, apparently Tennessee sperm is so powerful that it can penetrate doctor-patient privilege and render privacy rights non-existent. So powerful that its mere presence at one time in a woman's reproductive system obliges that woman to report in to that man about her medical activities.

Rachel of Women's Health News says:

You can find names and email addresses of TN Senate members here and House members here.

And since this Bill is next on its way to the Judiciary Committee, then you might want to have a word with them, too.


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