Tennessee State Senator Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) plans to introduce a bill that would expand abortion access in Tennessee. He claims his bill would allow mothers to have an abortion if it is believed carrying their child to term would later result in the mother becoming “sterile and unable to bear children” in the future.
In a Tuesday interview with WKRN News 2, Briggs (pictured above) revealed he seeks to create a new legislation enabling pregnancies “where either the child cannot survive outside of the womb, or it’s a condition where, if the woman is not treated properly, that she could end up unable to have children” to be aborted. Briggs argued the bill is necessary because of Tennessee’s 2019 abortion law, which became active in 2022 when the Supreme Court effectively overturned Roe v. Wade.
Of his plan to expand abortion access, Briggs continued, “I just think that’s a basic human right, and it’s the freedom to be able to have children and be able to have a family.” He said, “under present Tennessee law, the state legislature has a law that would cause women to be sterile and unable to bear children, even if they want to bear children, they would have to leave the state in order to be treated.”
The lawmaker said he intends to call his abortion bill “The Freedom to Have Children and a Family Act.”
Clarifying his intentions, he asserted, “We’re talking about where there’s a fetal medical pregnancy, where a child cannot survive outside the womb, but if a woman is not treated properly and not treated promptly she would not be able to have children and never be able to have a family.”
NEW: Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) plans to file a bill he calls the 'Freedom to Have Children and a Family Act.'
It would expand abortion exceptions in Tennessee, mostly surrounding conditions that would leave a mother sterile.
More tonight on @WKRN at 5:00p.#TNLeg24 pic.twitter.com/jQ6LO2mxWN
— Chris O’Brien (@THEChrisOB) January 2, 2024
In further remarks, the outlet reported Briggs cited “previable premature rupture of the membrane (PPROM),” where “a mother’s water breaks” potentially too early in the pregnancy. “There’s no way that that child can be delivered and live,” Briggs told the outlet, warning, “when you break the water, now the uterus is open to all the contamination.”
According to the PPROM Foundation, PPROM is rare, affecting between 2 to 4 percent of “singleton” pregnancies and 7 to 20 percent of twin pregnancies.
The group explains that most babies are born prematurely after PPROM, and the three treatment options are “elective termination of pregnancy,” or abortion, “expediant induction of pregnancy,” where the mother immediately has the child, and “Expectant Management,” when the pregnancy is allowed to naturally miscarry.
However, the foundation notes that”[m]uch depends on the gestational age at rupture and presenting complications,” and modern medical technology has saved children born as young as 21 weeks.
Briggs was previously the lowest-rated Tennessee Republican lawmaker by the Club for Growth Foundation in 2022. Briggs received a 33 percent score, scoring 14 points higher than the highest ranking Democrat official, State Senator Brenda Gilmore (D-Nashville).
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Tom Pappert is the lead reporter for The Tennessee Star, and also reports for The Georgia Star News, The Virginia Star, and the Arizona Sun Times. Follow Tom on X/Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Richard Briggs” by Richard Briggs.
As an OB/GYN, I’ll tell you Briggs is not only completely wrong, he is intentionally spreading medical disinformation to advance these leftist policies aligned with the abortion industry.
“if it is believed carrying their child to term would later result in the mother becoming “sterile and unable to bear children” in the future.”
This is a one-in-a-million possible scenario. This guy is a clown. He might as well put in the bill that if a woman gets pregnant from a space alien, while he’s at it. Is it primary time, yet?
Unfortunately Senator Briggs suffers from selective application of his medical oath. Not unlike his application of his Oath for public office, his decision to uphold it only applies when it benefits him personally. Ask him why his wife illegally voted in a district she did not live in? Senator Massey will likely co sponsor Briggs legislation, she has also sold out the unborn for political favor.