The Road To Gilead, Con't

Republican state legislatures are getting high on their own supply when it comes to "awful force birth legislation for when SCOTUS kills Roe" as Tennessee would actually give the father veto power over abortion being performed, because women need to be trapped in goddamn 1878.

In an effort to further restrict abortion in Tennessee, two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow a father to deny an abortion without the pregnant woman's consent.

SB494/HB1079, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon and Rep. Jerry Sexton, R-Bean Station, would give a man who gets a woman pregnant the veto power to an abortion by petitioning a court for an injunction against the procedure.

Tennessee lawmakers already passed one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws last year, although much of it is held up with legal challenges from abortion rights advocates. The ongoing court battle could stretch for months if not years.

Despite the outlook for potential lawsuits, state lawmakers appear adamant in pushing for stricter abortion laws this legislative session. Including Pody and Sexton's legislation, six bills to further restrict abortion have been filed this year.

Pody said Wednesday he introduced his bill after a Tennessee resident expressed concerns that fathers do not have a say over abortion under the current law. He said his bill would assure fathers' right to make a decision about an unborn child.

"I believe a father should have a right to say what's gonna be happening to that child," Pody said. "And if somebody is going to kill that child, he should be able to say, 'No, I don't want that child to be killed. I want to able to raise that child and love that child.'"

But the bill language has drawn criticism from abortion rights groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee and the state's Planned Parenthood chapter.

"This unconstitutional legislation demonstrates the condescending mindset underlying this bill: that men should control women’s bodies," ACLU of Tennessee Executive Director Hedy Weinberg said in a statement. "Women are not chattel and this bill needs to be stopped in its tracks."

 

Sure, let's give sperm donors legal authority over a woman's uterus. Let's see if we can give a wife or girlfriend veto power over a vasectomy while we're at it, right?

My God, what lunacy.  And yet, there's a very good chance that by July 2022, we'll be in a position where this will be law.