Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee said Tuesday the state will do “whatever it takes” to defend the pro-life Heartbeat Bill in court.
U.S. District Judge William “Chip” Campbell in Nashville blocked the pro-life measure just hours after Gov. Lee signed it into law Monday.
Planned Parenthood, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), and the Center for Reproductive Rights asked the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee to block the bill after it passed the Legislature last month.
Campbell opted to wait for the bill to become law to rule on whether to block it. In granting the temporary restraining order Monday, he wrote that he’s “bound by the Supreme Court holdings prohibiting undue burdens on the availability of pre-viability abortions.”
Plaintiffs seeking to block the law quickly let the court know it was signed and became effective immediately, “meaning that nearly all abortions in Tennessee have been criminalized.” The court’s ruling followed shortly after, keeping the law blocked pending a July 24 hearing.
Lee began his Tuesday press briefing by discussing the “historic pro-life piece of legislation”
“It’s a comprehensive bill that protects the most vulnerable in our state,” he said. “There’s a legal challenge – that’s disheartening. But we’ll defend it in court because the lives of precious Tennesseans are worth defending.”
He was asked later in the press conference about the financial burden of defending the law in court. A reporter noted that state revenues are already struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It is disheartening, but at the same time, as I said, the way to weigh that is that the lives of Tennesseans are worth defending and that’s what we’ll do. It’s very important that we defend and protect the lives of every Tennessean, the most vulnerable – one portion of the most vulnerable – being the unborn. That’s why we would make that decision to defend it,” said Lee.
When pressed on how much the state is willing to spend, Lee said his administration will do “whatever it takes.”
“We will defend it, whatever it takes in court, we’ll defend it,” he said.
As its name suggests, the Heartbeat Bill prohibits doctors from performing an abortion on “a pregnant woman whose unborn child has a fetal heartbeat.”
Other provisions in the bill prevent abortions from being performed based on the sex of the child, the race of the child, or a Down syndrome diagnosis in the unborn child.
Furthermore, doctors would be required to inform pregnant women of the gestational age of their unborn children, provide them with ultrasound images, and allow them to listen to the fetal heartbeat before performing an abortion.
The bill would also require health care facilities that provide abortions to post a sign with information about the possibility of reversing a chemically-induced abortion.
Watch the full press conference below:
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Anthony Gockowski is managing editor of The Minnesota Sun and The Ohio Star. Follow Anthony on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Background Photo “Bill Lee Press Conference” by The Tennessean.
So we don’t actually have a budget crisis. Good to know.
45 minutes after the bill was signed, district judge William l. Campbell Nashville blocked it. Now, what does this say? How could he have had time to even read the bill or the filing? That means he was part of the baby killers way before Governor Lee signed the bill. Sleazy courtroom practice that’s what it is.
https://tennesseestar.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/judge-campbell-trump-tennessee-heartbeat-bill_840x480.jpg
The bill was passed in the middle of the night if I remember correctly… THAT’S sleazy practice.
Governor Lee is making a noble gesture. Unfortunately, that’s all it is – a gesture. There have been dozens of cases of laws restricting abortions going to the Supreme (?) Court. All have been rejected. The reason is simple. Abortion is legal. Restricting it is not the answer. The answer is to abolish abortion as a “right”. Until some state passes a bill such as the Rule of Law Bill, which the Tennessee Senate rejected this year, there will be no successful challenge to Roe v. Wade. The Rule of Law Bill rests on the U. S. Constitution’s 9th and 10th Amendment, giving it a Constitutional basis for overturning Roe. Once the Supreme Court has made a bad decision, it will protect itself from challenge as long as possible. The Rule of Law Bill directly makes that challenge.
nope. someone will eventually find a way to make this a civil rights issue as the fetus is human. at that time byby roe vs wade and hello to personal responsibility and training in how to say no and keeping legs crossed
wasting money while we need stimulus again as COVID is shutting down our opportunities. Free health care, free education and another round of stimulus!!
Bea, there’s no such thing as a free lunch. But then again, you wouldn’t know that if you’ve been living off the county dole your entire life.
Saving unborn lives is wasting money? Wow, Satan himself knows better than to be that blatant.
It is wasting money to try to deal with it on the state level.
to bad your mom new the value of 50 cents
My home county is Hardeman… I think you actually knew my mom…
thanks governor