NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — The effort to provide a legal exception for abortions in Tennessee hit a big setback this week on the Capitol. Both chambers delayed votes on a bill that would allow the procedure if the life of the mother or child is in jeopardy.
The fate of HB 883 all depends on who you ask. Lieutenant Governor Randy McNally called it a toss-up.
"It’s probably like a 50-50 chance. I think it’s fairly close either way," said Lieutenant Governor McNally during a media availability with reporters Thursday.
Speaker Cameron Sexton took a more optimistic view but also admitted they have work to do to get enough votes.
"I think we will get to a place where the House, Senate, and administration can all get to an agreement on how to save the life of the mother in the language as well as save the life of the baby as well," said Sexton.
NewsChannel 5 asked, "How do you feel like that’s going to adjust over the course of the process?"
Sexton responded saying, "That’s up to conversations, so we’ll see; I mean, everybody’s in a little different place, but I think we’re closer than what most people think, so we’ll see what happens over the next week or two."
The original bill allowed for abortions if the life of the mother or child was in jeopardy. It also allowed doctors to perform the procedure "in good faith" if they felt like it was needed. But after major pushback from Tennessee Right to Life, a major pro-life lobbying group, the bill was amended to be more restrictive when a doctor could act during a medical emergency.
Right now, it's unclear what form the bill will take now that the Senate has officially rolled the bill two weeks and the House rolled it three weeks.
Democrats say they'd love to fully restore abortion rights in the state, but since they don't have the votes to do that, they'll help fight for anything that can pass.
"I’m hoping we can put our partisan politics aside and at least give doctors the tools and resources they need to execute saving women’s lives in this state. Tennessee has the worst maternal mortality rate in this country — we have the worst foster care system in this country. It only makes common sense to do this," said Sen. London Lamar, the Tennessee Senate Caucus Chair.
Other abortion-related bills, like exceptions for rape and incest, are essentially dead for this session. We're told that if any abortion-related bill has a chance, it's HB 883.
