Why did “personhood” fail in Colorado and North Dakota, but a ballot initiative allowing radical anti-choice legislation in Tennessee succeed? Because people are moved to vote anti-choice not by “life,” but by disapproval of others’ sexual experiences.
These candidates who rode the 2014 wave to victory hid their own values from the voters, and that speaks volumes about our values.
The measure amends the constitution to include language that says “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.” The amendment would also allow state lawmakers to “enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion.”
Early voting in Tennessee has begun and many residents have already taken to the polls to cast their ballots for Amendment 1, a highly controversial and extreme anti-choice ballot initiative.
Shortly after early voting began in Tennessee, local media reported that some voters have received misleading information about Amendment 1 and that there have been cases of voting machine irregularities.
Amendment 1’s proponents claim that it “neutralizes” the law on abortion; in reality, the measure would rob pregnant women of the full protections of Tennessee’s constitution.
If passed, Amendment 1 would amend the state constitution to include language that says “nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.” The amendment would also allow state lawmakers to “enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion.”
Tennessee voters will decide in November 2014 whether to pass a constitutional amendment restricting access to abortion.
