Call Upon Governor For Emergency Oversight of State's Abortion Facilities
Frustrated by the apparent lack of health department regulation of abortion facilities and weak enforcement of state law prohibiting the sale of remains of unborn children killed by abortion, pro-life state Senators are calling upon Governor Bill Haslam and the TN Department of Health to implement emergency rules for abortion providers in the state.
Last week, members of the state House and state Senate Government Operations committee heard testimony from state Health Commissioner John Dreyzehner in which he acknowledged that "if (abortion facilities) were breaking the law, we would not necessarily know this..."
In response, pro-life legislators led by state Senator Mae Beavers(R-Mt. Juliet) have asked the Governor to enact emergency rules for abortion facilities.
"As legislators, we strongly request that our state agencies step up their efforts to make sure abortion clinics are not illegally profiting from the slaughter of unborn children," said Senator Beavers.
Beavers is joined in her request by Senators Janice Bowling (Tullahoma), Dolores Gresham (Somerville), Paul Bailey (Sparta), and Kerry Roberts(Springfield.)
Senator Roberts stated "During the hearings, it became obvious the Tennessee Department of Health cannot provide Tennesseans any assurance whatsoever that illegal selling of aborted baby parts is not taking place."
Click here to see the video of the hearing.
Click here to read The Tennessean's coverage of the hearing.
As a result, the Senators have requested Governor Haslam to take three immediate steps:
- enact emergency rules to provide a "chain of custody" from the procedure until the disposal of the remains;
- expand the Abuse Registry to include an abuse hotline for the reporting of illegal activity at abortion facilities; and
- authorize an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation into whether and to what extent abortion facilities are engaged in activities that violate Tennessee state law.
Further, the Senators pledged to file legislation giving the Attorney General investigative and prosecutorial authority over illegal selling of aborted fetal parts, organs and tissues.
"Safeguards need to be in place at all abortion centers so the immoral and illegal practice of selling organs and tissues cannot and will not occur in Tennessee," Senator Bowling said.
Senator Gresham stated, "It is easy to say that the abhorrent practices shown in the Planned Parenthood videos are not happening here, but that is a terribly naïve belief given the history of Planned Parenthood. We must investigate."
"The disturbing videos cannot be ignored. The fact is that illegal activity could be taking place in Tennessee so we are calling upon the Governor to take action," Senator Bailey concluded.
Please contact pro-life Governor Haslam and express your support for continuing to do everything possible to enforce basic health and safety standards for women and to protect the innocent unborn children in our state.
Matching Gift Opportunity
Every dollar Tennessee Right to Life receives over the next 30 days will be matched by another dollar from an especially generous pro-life friend! Will you help us maximize this special offer? We have a goal of $50,000, which (after being doubled to $100,000) will go a long way to protect all the new pro-life legislation we fought to enact this year and to work with the Tennessee General Assembly on legislation and regulations that will ensure aborted babies in Tennessee are not being sold.