Sorry for the double post this AM...lots happening this Monday...

(From later in the post, and the main point I'm trying to make: You'd think Dems would have learned from 2006, when many folks think the gay-marriage Constitutional amendment most likely cost Tennessee a Senate seat and the chance to elect the first Black Senator from the South since Reconstruction. It's disappointing to see Tennessee Democrats line up to support a lightning-rod social issue Constitutional amendment that will virtually guarantee a flood of right-wingers to the polls in 2010, the year Tennessee will elect its next Governor.)

This afternoon, SJ127, a measure designed to prevent the TN Constitution from protecting the right to abortion, will rear its ugly head on the floor of the Tennessee Senate once again. As is traditionally the case, it will be cosponsored by a passel of Republicans but also a couple of notable Tennessee Democrats, Sens. Tommy Kilby and Doug Henry. Again this year, it will be opposed by virtually all of the elected women Democratic Senators, including DavCo Sen. Thelma Harper, Memphis Sen. Beverly Marrero and Senate Speaker Pro Tem Rosalind Kurita, who gave a barnburner speech on her personal experiences as an OR nurse on the Senate floor last year. (Unfortunately Sen. Ford, who opposed SJ127 in 2007, is in the hospital and will be unable to cast her vote.)

Experience also indicates the bill will most likely pass the full Senate, as it's done each of the last four or so Senate sessions. Rumor on the street is that many in the TN Senate will support the TN Right to Life version of the bill with no exceptions for rape or incest (a strategem that may also be employed as a tactical measure by some woman Democrats, who want to see this thing hit the media in all its hateful glory.)

However, this year the political math is a bit different. In each of the last few years, the legislation has been stopped in the Public Health and Family Assistance Subcommittee of the House Health and Human Resources Committee, by five female Democratic Representatives (Jones, Sontany, Pruitt, Marrero, DeBerry). Rep. Marrero is now a Senator from Memphis, and new committee assignments determine that the measure may not be so easily defeated.

The GOP, of course, is out on the stump pretending the legislation will "only" weaken the TN Constitution, which was found in 2000 by the Supreme Court to be a stronger protector of the right to abortion than Roe v. Wade. Many groups, however, including TN Planned Parenthood, see it as a starting point for TN Right to Life to issue a full-scale assault on the right to choose in Tennessee.

This is certainly a depressing turn of events. Regardless of one's personal feelings on the subject, it's disappointing to see Tennessee Democrats line up to support a lightning-rod social issue Constitutional amendment that will virtually guarantee a flood of right-wingers to the polls in 2010, the year Tennessee will elect its next Governor. (More on how Constitutional amendments work: Link... )

You'd think they'd have learned from TN Democrats' experiences in 2006, when many folks think the gay-marriage Constitutional amendment most likely cost Tennessee a Senate seat and the chance to elect the first Black Senator from the South since Reconstruction. At one point R. Neal reported here that a group of TN Dems were considering an alternate amendment on stem cell research, but there hasn't been any public movement on that. I recall reading recently about a "hunter's rights" amendment threatened by the GOP, which may well still make an appearance this session.

So what can you do? Call your own Senator and urge him or her to oppose this fiasco. Contact your member in the House and do the same. Make a mental note to send a check to Reps. Jones, Sontany, Pruitt, or DeBerry, or state Sen. Marrero, after the session is over. Call Joanne Favors (615-741-2702), House member from Chattanooga who may be the swing vote on the House Public Health and Family Assistance subcommittee this year, and voice your support for her opposition to SJ127.

Those of you reading this from the 615 area code can also join your friends from NOW, Planned Parenthood, and a few other groups in bearing silent witness to this travesty at 5 PM this afternoon in the Senate chambers.

More info: PP of TN, 615-345-0952