NASHVILLE — This week on Capitol Hill, Senator David Fowler (R-Signal Mountain) moved Senate Joint Resolution 127 through the Senate Judiciary Committee with a 7-1-1 vote to allow the people to decide on whether to add language to their state constitution to protect the rights of the unborn. Senator Raymond Finney (R-Maryville) is a co-prime sponsor of the measure.

The people would vote yes or no on whether or not to add the following wording: “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”

If SJR 127 receives approval from a majority of the Senate and of the House during the 104th General Assembly in 2005 or 2006, it would then need to be approved in the 105th General Assembly by two-thirds from the Senate and from the House in 2007 or 2008. If that happens, the question would be put before the people during the November 2010 gubernatorial election.

The measure to allow the people to vote on whether to defend the rights of the unborn is brought in the form of a constitutional amendment because of a court decision by activist judges that overturned a portion of the state’s abortion statutes.

Four of the five judges now seated on the Tennessee Supreme Court found a hitherto unknown right in the state Constitution in 2000 when they rendered a controversial 4-1 decision which overturned abortion law in the landmark case of Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee vs. Don Sundquist.
Only one of the five, Justice Barker, dissented from that decision.
That decision essentially espouses the opinion that the resounding silence in the Constitution of Tennessee on the abortion topic somehow provides greater privacy rights to obtain an abortion than is provided by the exact same silence in the Constitution of the United States.

“Many have looked but none have yet found that hitherto unknown right written anywhere within the four corners of the state constitution,” stated Senator Fowler.

“It’s not on the front side or on the back side of the document itself. It’s just not there. Maybe, viewed from the wrong angle, someone might claim that this unknown right is lurking in the shadow of some previously undiscovered and yet unknown penumbra created out of whole cloth made out of the Emperor’s New Clothes. It truly is a conundrum how these activist judges managed to drum this right out of its hiding place. I had to file that decision in the fiction section in my law library.”

By way of contrast, if SJR 127 sounds familiar to you, it’s because it’s the same number used for the same measure in the last General Assembly. And that was in writing as can be shown to this day in the Senate archives. The abortion language amendment was derailed by abortion rights activists in the last General Assembly.
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Senate Approves White Water Rafting Bill

The Senate unanimously approved a bill to protect white water rafting in Tennessee. Senator Jeff Miller (R-Cleveland) presented SB 325, the Tennessee White Water Rafting Responsibility Act, in order to expand lawsuit reform for this economically important activity. White water rafting provides many jobs in Tennessee, generating revenues to help operate local governments. Senator Steve Southerland (R-Morristown) is a co-prime sponsor of the bill.

“White water rafting is very important to the economic health of Tennessee. This bill helps cut down on lawsuit abuse which is driving up the cost of insurance and driving operators out of business. This bill protects those who conduct themselves responsibly in their white water rafting operations,” stated Senator Miller.

“There are inherent risks in certain activities. White water rafting is one of them. It has its own unique set of intrinsic dangers. And that’s what attracts people to participate in it. It’s fun, but tragedy can strike quickly.

“Senate Bill 325 clearly indicates in the law that participants in white water rafting assume the risks inherent to white water rafting. At the same time, the bill leaves in place those protections in the law against operators who try to cut any corners on the maintenance of equipment or in training their employees,” concluded Senator Miller.

SB 325 would not apply to acts of negligence, to faulty equipment, or to a whitewater rafting provider who commits an act or omission that constitutes gross negligence or willful or wanton disregard for the safety of a participant and that act or omission injures, kills, or damages the participant.
Representatives Chris Newton (R-Benton) and David Hawk (R-Greeneville) are carrying House Bill 29, the House companion bill for SB 325. According to bill tracking, HB 29 was recommended for passage to the full Judiciary Committee on Wednesday by the Civil Practice and Procedure Sub-committee of the House Judiciary Committee. It is now set on the House Judiciary Calendar for April 12.
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TennCare Update

The Federal District Court hearing of the Rosen case before Judge Haynes is wrapping up in Nashville this week even as the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is preparing to take up an expedited appeal of the matter in Ohio. The Rosen Case deals with the issue of TennCare disenrollment, particularly with how the administration plans to remove 323,000 people from the TennCare rolls in order to balance the state budget.

Meanwhile, TennCare advocates are staging a statewide rally at the Capitol on Friday, April 8, to protest the TennCare cuts proposed by the administration.

April 8 is the same day that the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is to take up oral arguments in an expedited appeal on the Rosen case regarding disenrollment.

The governor virtually conceded the fight at the federal district court level in Nashville by mid-week and pointed towards victory at the appellate level in Ohio.

Should that happen, the TennCare advocates could also appeal or focus on their next planned lawsuit, set for May in Nashville, over the issue of cuts and limitations in pharmaceutical care.
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All things considered: As of 1 p.m. Thursday (April 7), the Senate has 2,382 bills; the House 2,398. Senate Joint Resolutions now number up to 180; HJRs 300; SRs 18; and HRs 65. The Secretary of State has assigned numbers to 28 Public Chapters and 26 Private Acts. The Senate and the House have used 27 legislative days. Article II, Section 23 of the state Constitution provides for 90 paid regular legislative session days for every two-year-long General Assembly. The Senate and House are scheduled to convene on Monday at 5 p.m.