Amendment 1 Passes, Leading to Potentially Troubling Consequences

Now that Amendment 1 has passed, I am troubled by the potential impact on the rights of women in Tennessee. I expressed my concerns before the election on my personal blog. When I went to my polling place to vote in November 2014, there were the routine races for governor, state Senate, and House of Representatives. Then, there were various proposed amendments to the state constitution. It would be the first amendment, Amendment 1, that would grab my attention, even before I heard about it on the news. Everyone was talking about it. There was good reason for this. Amendment 1 essentially would give the Tennessee legislature the right to regulate abortion in ways that have been deemed uncomstitutional in the past. In 2000, the state Supreme Court ruled that this type of legislation was unconstitutional. The first time I heard about the amendment was at a faith and fellowship meeting. When I asked one of my friends afterwards, he explained it to me and said it was an important piece of legislation. I knew from the moment I first heard about it what my vote would be: No. Unfortunately, Amendment 1 passed. No matter what side of the debate you may be on, similar legislation in other states has led to some troubling results. Women in these states, who have no intention of ending their pregnancies, are being negatively impacted. If a woman has a miscarriage or stillbirth, chances are that if she is living in one of these states that she will be arrested and charged with fetal homicide, regardless of her situation. For me, when it comes to these issues, it’s not about being pro-life or pro-choice. You should do what you feel is right for your situation. The type of legislation that Amendment 1 will allow to be passed will deny women the right to do this. Looking at the language of the amendment and the reasoning behind the “Yes on 1” campaign, it would seem that this is simply an attempt to protect the valuable resource of innocent human life from the sinful act of abortion. However, this attempt to legislate morality will potentially go wrong in ways that impact everyone. Attempting to legislate morality when it comes to abortion can make a situation that is already tough to face even worse. Depending on the language of the legislation passed, a woman and her family may not be able to make these decisions based on their circumstances. For a woman who has no intention of ending her pregnancy, Amendment 1 also has the potential to cause problems. If she has complications that cause her pregnancy to be terminated, it may be determined that she has had an abortion, and she may be arrested and jailed for something she could not control. Perhaps a bigger issue is whether this type of legislation crosses the boundary between church and state. It seems that this type of legislation is influenced by the Catholic church and other Christian organizations. When I attended church one Sunday before the election, the priest read a letter from the bishop, encouraging everyone to vote for Amendment 1 and explaining all the reasons why. I felt very uncomfortable about this, not only because I disagreed with everything that was said, but because I thought church and state were too closely tied to one another. It’s one thing when a religion establishes rules and regulations as pillars for its beliefs; however, it’s quite another when the government attempts to legislate morality. Yes, we need laws that say that we shouldn’t steal or drive drunk, but when it comes to deeply personal issues, like abortion, the government should remain neutral. No matter where you may stand on the debate about abortion, one thing is clear. Amendment 1 has the potential to do some serious damage to the rights of women in Tennessee if action is not taken.