The League of Women Voters, the Tennessee Womens Political Caucus, the Nashville Section of the National Council of Jewish Women, Planned Parenthood, and the ACLU of Tennessee have banded together to send the Tennessee House of Representatives a simple message: Just say "NO" to SJR127.

The group has also singled out former State Senator-turned-lobbyist David Fowler for fighting amendments that would protect victims of rape or incest and provide exceptions to save a pregnant woman's life, noting that the bill would have a better chance in the House with those amendments.

They also note that justifying the bill on the grounds of banning late term abortions is misleading and a non-issue because the practice is already illegal under federal law.

The coalition issued the following press release today...

Tennessean: Senate approves amendment to limit abortions

The state Senate handily approved a constitutional amendment allowing more limits on abortion, but the measure faces uncertain prospects in the House.

The vote was 23-9, with six Democrats voting for it.

Along the way, it was amended to include exceptions for rape, incest, and to protect the life of a pregnant woman. But:

[Sen. Diane Black, R-Gallatin] resisted efforts by several Democrats to insert a constitutional right to abortions in such cases.

Those are exceptions that President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and U.S. Sens. Bob Corker and Lamar Alexander support, said Sen. Beverly Marrero, D-Memphis.

It still has to get out of House committee, pass in the House, and again next year in both the House and the Senate by a two-thirds majority before it would go on the ballot for Tennessee voters to decide.

UPDATE: Joe Powell has the vote breakdown and commentary.

UPDATE: The Senate vote on SJR127 has been delayed until next Wednesday. In a major legislative setback for the GOP, the Senate adopted Sen. Douglas Henry's (D-Nashville) Amendment 3, which is an attempt to get some kind of protection for victims of rape and incest which the GOP has been fighting. The amended bill must have three readings before a vote. The second reading is scheduled for Monday and the third for Wednesday.

Original post follows...

The TN GOP says:

The constitutional amendment would not ban abortion in Tennessee – rather, it would permit the legislature to enact commonsense regulations such as informed consent, a waiting period, and parental notification in the case of a minor seeking an abortion.

"Democrat Sen. Joe Haynes of Nashville is leading the charge against the proposed constitutional amendment because he supports the extreme position of abortion-on-demand and public funding of the slaughter," said Bill Hobbs, communications director for the Tennessee Republican Party.

That's some pretty offensive rhetoric.

At any rate, the amendment, which is out of step with 70% of Tennesseans who think abortion should be legal, safe, and rare, opens the way for restrictions that the state Supreme Court has already said were unconstitutional.

It is also the first step toward an outright ban, as the TN GOP admits when they say the amendment would "leave future abortion policy questions up to the elected legislature rather than the courts if the U.S. Supreme Court strikes down the Roe v. Wade decision."

They have not made a rational case for why the state constitution should have specific language regarding medical procedures that are the private business of a woman, her physician, her family, and her clergy.

The TN GOP has also not explained why they oppose exceptions to their abortion ban in cases of rape, incest, or to save the life of a pregnant woman. Which is curious, because the supporters of this bill have said before that they support exceptions to their abortion ban in these cases.

Further, they are now out of step with Tennessee's national Republican leadership, including Senators Alexander and Corker who have both said they believe such exceptions are necessary. Even former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said "I believe that abortion is an option that a woman should have" and that he would not vote to make abortion illegal.

Former Senator Fred Thompson also voted consistently for federal funding for abortions in such cases, but now that their man Fred Thompson has let them down it's open season for the TN GOP to attack his record.

The bottom line is that this is a pathetically transparent political stunt to get yet another wedge issue on the ballot for the 2010 gubernatorial election in an effort to get right-wing extremists out to the polls. Tennessee deserves better leadership than this.

Fromt the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus:

Five Senate Republicans -- led by Republican Caucus Chair Senator Diane Black -- have professed public support for keeping abortions safe and legal in cases of rape, incest, and threats to the lives of pregnant women but have voted in the Tennessee Senate in support of a complete ban on abortion.

They can't seem to decide who to pander to today -- right wing extremists or the 70% of Tennesseeans who think abortion should be legal, safe, and rare.

Read the full press release after the jump...