By Lonnie Wilkey
Editor, Baptist and Reflector
BRENTWOOD — To hear the other side tell it, abortion will be illegal in Tennessee if voters approve Amendment 1 of the state ballot on Nov. 4.
There is also a rampant myth that churches can’t legally encourage people to vote for or against public policy issues.
Nothing can be further from the truth.
Such statements are “scare tactics” offered by opponents of Amendment 1 to confuse the issues, say leaders in the state who support efforts to pass Amendment 1 in November.
Abortions are now legal in Tennessee and will continue to be legal the day after the election regardless of the outcome of the vote on Amendment 1, observed Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, based in Nashville.
Myra Simons, president of “Yes on 1,” a community-based effort to raise awareness of the proposed constitutional Amendment 1 slated for public vote on Nov. 4, agreed.
Despite what opponents are saying the amendment does not make abortions in Tennessee illegal, Simons told the Baptist and Reflector in April.
“We can’t make abortions illegal because of Roe v. Wade, but we can restrict them.”
The ERLC cohosted an information meeting, along with the Tennessee Baptist Convention and other organizations which are backing Yes on 1, for area pastors on Sept. 18.
Amendment 1 does not deal with abortion, Moore stressed. It’s about correcting how the State Constitution is interpreted, he continued.
In 2000 the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled 4-1 on a decision (Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Sunquist) which gives a broader right to abortion in the Tennessee State Constitution that was even found in the U.S. Constitution, according to Simons.
Amendment 1, if approved, will allow legislators to pass laws regulating abortions in the state.
The full text of Amendment 1 reads: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to circumstances of pregnancy resulting from rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.”
Why amendment is needed
As the law stands now in Tennessee, there is no informed consent, no waiting periods for abortions, and no inspection of abortion facilities, Simons said.
As a result, Tennessee has become an abortion destination.
In 2012, 23.6 percent of abortions in Tennessee were performed on women residing out of state, according to the Tennessee Department of Health, Division of Policy, Planning, and Assessment, Office of Health Statistics, 2012.
In addition, The Tennessean reported on Feb. 18 that Tennessee ranks third nationally in the percentage of out-of-state abortions.
Simons noted that the eight states which surround Tennessee have restrictions on abortions which cause women from those states to come to Tennessee to obtain abortions.
In early September TBC Executive Director Randy C. Davis and Gene Williams, a former staff member who is helping to inform Tennessee Baptists about Yes on 1, mailed a letter to every pastor in the state.
The letter noted that the ruling by the Tennessee Supreme Court in 2000 “has been disastrous to protecting life. Tennessee is becoming an unregulated abortion destination state.”
Due to the fact that states surrounding Tennessee “are more strident in enforcing common-sense protections,” more women come to Tennessee because it is easier to obtain an abortion, the letter observed.
“This must change. In a matter of weeks, Tennesseans will go to the polls and decide the future of abortion policy in Tennessee for years to come. Tens of thousands of lives hang in the balance, and so too the health, safety, and well-being of women and girls who can be better protected with the passage of Amendment 1,” Davis and Williams wrote.
The two men also noted in the letter that because the issue “is a matter of policy, it is appropriate for you to encourage your congregation to vote yes on this amendment without fear of adverse scrutiny.”
Confusing the issue
David Fowler, a former state senator and now president of the Family Action Council of Tennessee, is a strong proponent of Yes on 1.
He noted that those who oppose the passage of Amendment 1, such as Planned Parenthood, will buy a lot advertising air time to confuse the issue.
“The other side doesn’t have to convince you to vote no,” Fowler observed. “They just have to convince you that you’re not sure of what you know.”
Fowler stressed that Tennesseans must resist the temptation to not vote on Amendment 1 because they are confused about the issue.
“If you vote for a governor and skip the amendment for whatever reason, you have effectively voted no on Amendment 1,” Fowler said.
In addition, how the amendment must pass can be confusing, leaders agree.
In order for Amendment 1 to pass, it will need 50 percent of the votes in the governor’s race cast plus one. For example, if one million people vote for a candidate for governor on Nov. 4, Amendment 1 must receive 500,001 votes, Simons said.
Fowler offered other examples.
Example 1
Votes cast for governor: 1 million
Votes cast on amendment: 900,000
Votes FOR amendment: 480,000
Votes AGAINST amendment: 420,000
Amendment FAILS because the Amendment did not garner minimum of 500,001 votes (half the votes cast for Governor, plus 1).
Example 2
Votes cast for governor: 1 million
Votes cast on amendment: 1.1 million
Votes FOR amendment: 500,001
Votes AGAINST amendment: 599,999
Amendment FAILS because the Amendment did not get a MAJORITY of the votes even though it did garner the required minimum number of votes of 500,001 (half the votes cast for governor, plus 1).
Example 3
Votes cast for governor: 1 million
Votes cast on amendment: 900,000
Votes FOR amendment: 500,001
Votes AGAINST amendment: 499,999
Amendment PASSES because the Amendment garnered a MAJORITY of the votes AND garnered the minimum required number of votes 500,001 (half the votes cast for governor, plus 1).
Facts that matter
According to material supplied by Yes on 1, Tennesseans need to understand that women who consider having an abortion in Tennessee have none of the following safeguards, many of which are in place in neighboring states:
• Informed consent to provide accurate information based on health history;
• 24-hour waiting period to avoid abortion-on-demand and coercion;
• Inspection and regulation of abortion facilities; and
• Hospitalization requirement for riskier late-term abortions.
An information card supplied by Yes on 1 encourages Tennesseans to ask the following questions:
• Do women and girls have a right to know the facts?
• Should a 24-hour waiting period be required?
• Should abortion facilities be licensed and inspected?
• Should taxpayers be protected from funding abortions?
If Tennesseans answer yes to the above questions, then they are encouraged to vote for Amendment 1 on Nov. 4.
TBC President Larry Robertson attended the ERLC information meeting on behalf of the Tennessee Baptist Convention.
He told the Baptist and Reflector that he totally supports the Yes on 1 effort.
“Tennessee is already known as the most violent state in America. Do we really want also to be known as an abortion destination for neighboring states?” he said.
Robertson, pastor of Hilldale Baptist Church, Clarksville, observed that “nail salons in Tennessee are regulated and inspected, yet abortion clinics don’t have to be? How crazy and confused is that?
“God help us when the killing of inconvenient innocents is no longer considered infanticide but a choice, even a right!”
Robertson also observed that “when four radical Supreme Court justices declared in 2000 that abortion is a fundamental right protected by the Tennessee Constitution, not only was the constitution’s neutrality on the issue lost but also common sense.
“Yes on 1 is not about abolishing abortion in Tennessee (that’s a whole other campaign) but rather about restoring our state’s constitution to where it was prior to 2000. A constitutional amendment is our only hope for restoring sanity and once again influencing public policy on the issue of abortion.
Robertson stressed that “this is not a political struggle but a moral one. I ask every Tennessee Baptist registered to vote in our state to vote Yes on 1.”
Davis and Williams, in the letter mailed to pastors, reiterated Roberston’s plea.
“The vote of every church member supporting Yes on (Amendment) 1 will be critical to the passage of this amendment,” the two men wrote.
They agreed with others that the opposition “will soon flood the airwaves with spots designed to confuse, deceive, frighten, and discourage pro-life voters. …
“We are grateful for your prayers, donations, involvement, and vote to restore life to Tennessee.”
