Ohio’s Right To Life Organization Supported a ‘Heartbeat Bill,’ While Tennessee’s Opposed It

Ohio’s Right to Life organization supported and celebrated the state becoming the seventh to pass a “Heartbeat Bill” banning abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. In contrast, Tennessee’s Right to Life organization opposed the “Heartbeat Bill” introduced in this session’s Tennessee General Assembly, and cheered when a State Senate Committee last week sent it off to “summer study” instead of passing it. In fact, Ohio’s Right to Life issued a press release the day the Human Rights and Heartbeat Protection Act (SB23) was signed into law by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine that featured a picture of the organization’s team standing beside the Governor during the signing ceremony. Ohio’s law bans an abortion after a fetal heartbeat is detected, usually after about six weeks from conception. According to a January 2019 report of The Columbus Dispatch, Ohio’s Right to Life support of the legislation is relatively new, but it went all-in by putting the bill at the top of their legislative agenda. “It spent years opposing or remaining neutral on the measure,” reported The Dispatch. “But more recently, with President Donald Trump naming two justices to the U.S. Supreme Court and Gov. Mike DeWine indicating he will sign the bill,…

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Protecting Babies Born Alive from Botched Abortions Should Not Be Controversial, Sen. Blackburn Says

There should have been nothing controversial about protecting babies born after botched abortions, U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) wrote. Blackburn’s comments about the failed Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act appeared in an op-ed Tuesday on Fox News. The op-ed is available here. Blackburn said, in part: On Monday night I proudly voted for the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act. There should be nothing controversial about voting to give babies born as a result of a failed abortion the same degree of medical care given to those born at the same stage of a pregnancy. The Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act is legislation that makes certain every child who is born has the same opportunity to live and survive. … It should have been an easy vote for every member of the Senate, but on Monday night, many Democrats demonstrated that their pro-choice stance also requires them to support infanticide. Sadly, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s recent comments advocating infanticide clearly framed the Democrats’ radical agenda. Their push to abort children reveals a hardened inner core that shocks the conscience. On Monday, the U.S. Senate voted 53-44 to bring the Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act to the floor for a vote on…

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The Heartbeat Report Bill Passes in The Tennessee House

NASHVILLE, Tennessee –House Bill 0108, the Heartbeat Report Bill, passed in the Tennessee House of Representatives on Monday by a vote of 74 to 20. “As amended, the Heartbeat Report Bill would require that the post-abortion report indicate the presence or absence of a heartbeat, would require that the Department of Health include in its annual report, the heartbeat presence statistics, would require that, if used, the ultrasound be offered to the mother of the baby to be killed,” the bill’s sponsor, State Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough) said on the floor of the House prior to the vote. The companion Senate Bill 0244 was referred to the Judiciary Committee, although it has not been scheduled on the committee calendar. Van Huss took up the mission more than a year ago to protect the unborn by introducing a Heartbeat Bill, which would prohibit abortion in the state of Tennessee from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected. As previously reported by The Tennessee Star, it became increasingly obvious that the bill in its original form would not pass the House Health Committee and was, therefore, amended. The amendment requires that “if an ultrasound is performed as part of the examination prior to…

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Heartbeat Bill That Gives Pregnant Women More Choice Passes Through House Subcommittee

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – The Heartbeat Bill passed through the House Health Subcommittee on Wednesday and is headed for the full House Health Committee.  The bill has been under consideration in the Tennessee General Assembly for more than a year, The bill, which has seen its share of challenges, along with its six amendments was the only item discussed in the subcommittee. After five amendments were dispensed with, the amendment that “made the bill,” was introduced by the sponsor of the main bill, Rep. Micah Van Huss (R-Jonesborough). Van Huss began by recognizing and appreciating the many people who, over the last 12 months, worked, prayed and called for the Heartbeat Bill to protect the unborn, and added, “If the unborn could speak, they would thank you as well.” Not having the votes to pass the bill through the Subcommittee in its current form, Van Huss offered an amendment that would “still save lives.” Citing a statistic from preborn.org, Van Huss said that 80 percent of mothers who see an ultrasound choose life. The amendment to the bill increases a pregnant woman’s choices, requiring that “if an ultrasound is performed as part of the examination prior to performing the abortion, the…

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Concerned Veterans of America: ‘Veterans Being Used in Tennessee Tax Hike Ploy’

Tennessee Star

Concerned Veterans of America (CVA)  blasted Tennessee’s Republican political establishment on Monday for using veterans in a “Tennessee [gas] tax hike ploy.” “The politicians pushing for this gas tax increase know that it’s unpopular, so they’ve resorted to using veterans as pawns to push their big government agenda. Pretending that this massive tax hike is good for the military community is an unconscionable move that disrespects those who fought and sacrificed for this country,” Mark Lucas, executive director of CVA said in a statement. “The truth is that this gas tax will hurt families and veterans alike who rely on affordable transportation in the state. Veterans deserve property tax relief, but not as part of a glaringly obvious ploy to increase taxes across the board. We urge the Tennessee legislature to look for ways to cut wasteful government spending instead of approving this disingenuous and costly tax hike,” Lucas said. The amended version of Gov. Haslam’s IMPROVE Act gas tax increase that passed the Senate Transporation Committee last week “includes a small tax relief for veterans which would exempt them from paying property taxes under certain circumstances, but would not protect them from the impact of the massive gas tax…

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