Governor of Tennessee set to sign heartbeat abortion bill

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The governor of Tennessee has said he will sign a new bill that prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, Christian Headlines reported Monday. Sponsored by Gov. Bill Lee earlier this year, the bill also bans abortion on the grounds of sex, race, or a diagnosis of Down’s syndrome.

The legislation was passed by the Tennessee House of Representatives 70-20 and by the Senate 23-5. Both chambers have a Republican majority. The bill criminalizes abortion on an unborn child where a fetal heartbeat is detected – sometimes as early as six weeks into the woman’s pregnancy. Medical practitioners are required to offer the woman an ultrasound or to hear the heartbeat, though she does not have to do either.

The bill also requires that women having a chemical abortion must be told that “it may be possible to reverse” the process if she changes her mind, although “time is of the essence.” Under the legislation, a woman will not be guilty of a crime if an abortion is performed illegally on her unborn child.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) have filed suit to have the bill struck down before it becomes law.

Describing the bill as the “strongest pro-life law in our state’s history,” Lee tweeted Friday: “One of the most important things we can do to be pro-family is to protect the rights of the most vulnerable in our state, and there is none more vulnerable than the unborn.”

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