Why is a constitutional amendment necessary?
Because the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the Tennessee Constitution provides a fundamental right to abortion, any laws which are interpreted to impact on a “fundamental” right must be very narrowly written as to avoid infringing on the protected right. As Justice Barker pointed out in his dissent, only by amending the constitution can pro-life Tennesseans hope to positively influence public policy again. (See dissent, p. 6 ). What does our amendment say? SJR 110 was drafted by a group of pro-life constitutional attorneys in Tennessee. Since that time it has been reviewed by some of the most respected and experienced pro-life attorneys and organizations in the nation. It does not seek to criminalize abortion nor does it prohibit the funding of abortion in Tennessee. Instead it nullifies the TN Supreme Court’s ruling and returns the regulation and funding of abortion to the Legislature where the people of Tennessee can make known their collective will. The actual amendment reads as
