Post by pavel on Apr 4, 2016 2:12:35 GMT -6
A legal challenge to a 2014 voter-approved abortion measure heads to court Tuesday, when a Nashville federal judge will hear arguments about whether Tennessee election officials properly counted votes.
Amendment 1 added language to the Tennessee constitution that explicitly removed the right to abortion, saying, in part: "Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion."
One of the most expensive and hotly contested ballot measures in Tennessee history, the amendment passed with 53 percent of the vote. In practice its passage has given lawmakers more power to restrict and regulate abortion. Two new laws — one imposing regulations on abortion providers and another requiring a 48-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion — were enacted within months of the election.
But immediately after the Nov. 4 election day, eight Tennessee voters opposed to Amendment 1, including the board chairman of Planned Parenthood of Middle & Eastern Tennessee, stepped forward to challenge the state's vote tabulation methods. They are asking the federal court to order state election officials to recount the vote.
Read more: www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/04/03/fight-over-abortion-amendment-1-heads-court/82588534/
Amendment 1 added language to the Tennessee constitution that explicitly removed the right to abortion, saying, in part: "Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion."
One of the most expensive and hotly contested ballot measures in Tennessee history, the amendment passed with 53 percent of the vote. In practice its passage has given lawmakers more power to restrict and regulate abortion. Two new laws — one imposing regulations on abortion providers and another requiring a 48-hour waiting period on women seeking an abortion — were enacted within months of the election.
But immediately after the Nov. 4 election day, eight Tennessee voters opposed to Amendment 1, including the board chairman of Planned Parenthood of Middle & Eastern Tennessee, stepped forward to challenge the state's vote tabulation methods. They are asking the federal court to order state election officials to recount the vote.
Read more: www.tennessean.com/story/news/2016/04/03/fight-over-abortion-amendment-1-heads-court/82588534/