A proposed constitutional amendment to the Tennessee state constitution was sent to the state House Budget Subcommittee yesterday instead of being scheduled for a floor vote in the House. According to the Associated Press, the issue is the estimated $20,000 cost of publishing a notice about the amendment in newspapers.
The resolution (see PDF) states: “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.”
The resolution passed in the state Senate last month and passed in the state House Health and Human Resources Committee in a 20 to 7 vote Tuesday. According to the Associated Press, in order to go into law, the resolution must pass in the House this session, in the 2010 General Assembly, and must be approved by voters in the 2014 elections.
