Last year, Sen. Richard Briggs (R-Knoxville) proposed a bill that would narrowly but significantly change Tennessee's abortion ban and allow doctors to legally perform abortions in dangerous situations. .
However, the bill faced fierce opposition from abortion opponents and did not go as far as Briggs had hoped. The longtime doctor is now planning to introduce new legislation that would allow women to legally terminate pregnancies in cases of severe fetal abnormalities.
Briggs is preparing to introduce the bill by next week's filing deadline and is working with groups such as the Tennessee Medical Association to develop the bill. The senator said he was working on specific details about what medical conditions and situations would be covered by the law, but he said this is a basic parental rights and maternal health issue. He said he thought so.
Briggs likens medical abortions for “very severe congenital malformations that cannot survive outside the womb” to parents who have cancer that is no longer resistant to treatment and choose palliative care.
“When a baby is born, they can't breathe, they're gasping for air and then they die. Should a mother be able to say, 'I don't want that to happen to my child?'” Briggs said. “We're talking about parental rights. Who gets to make those decisions?”
Briggs' bill joins a number of other health-related bills introduced in recent weeks.
Here are some of the most notable ones.
“Freedom of contraception” legislation
Senate Bill 1804 provides for the right to access contraceptive methods, including emergency contraception and sterilization procedures.
The bill, introduced by Sen. Charlaine Oliver (D-Nashville) and Rep. Gloria Johnson (R-Knoxville), would require private health insurance companies and public health care providers to pay for their patients' birth control. It also requires that the company pay the full amount.
Tennessee lawmakers have not moved to restrict access to contraceptives, but some reproductive health advocates are concerned that abortion opponents plan to turn to emergency contraception. There are some too. Still, a resolution introduced in 2023 by Sen. Ramesh Akbari (D-Memphis) affirming Congress's intent to protect access to contraceptives failed to make it out of key committees.
more:Fact check: Tennessee's new abortion law does not ban Plan B, or the 'morning-after' pill
Maternal health equity
Sen. London Lamar (D-Memphis) wants to create a new governor's advisory committee dedicated to maternal health equity. Lamar has spoken publicly about her own past life-threatening pregnancies, and she has long advocated for improved maternal health in Tennessee.
Senate Bill 1832 establishes the Tennessee Maternal Custody Equity Advisory Commission. The advisory committee is her 11-person group appointed by the governor to examine maternal health data and pinpoint disparities in maternal health care. The group will make recommendations within the Ministry of Health that will focus on minority women and women living in urban and rural areas.
Vaccine exemption for foster families
Rep. Ron Gant (R-Piperton) wants foster families in Tennessee to be exempted from federal vaccination requirements under a program that subsidizes state foster care programs with matching funds. States must meet certain requirements to qualify.
House Bill 2050 directs states to request from the federal government a waiver of the national standard immunization requirements in Title IV-E foster care.
Both Title IV-E and the Tennessee Department of Children's Services require that all household members in households caring for infants, defined by DCS as infants 18 months of age or younger, must have up-to-date pertussis vaccines. It sets out ongoing requirements. Household members who are caring for infants or children with disabilities must receive an annual influenza vaccine.
Overall, all children in foster care homes must have up-to-date immunizations in accordance with the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics and the health care industry standards Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices. If your doctor does not recommend vaccination, exemptions will be made based on your personal health situation.
Republican lawmakers passed another vaccine law last year that would create major hurdles for DCS to seek standard childhood vaccines for thousands of children in its care. DCS must now seek a court order to vaccinate nearly all children in its care, including those required in Tennessee public schools.
more:How a new 'informed consent' law complicates vaccinating children in Tennessee
Hospital visit
Senate Bill 1641 would require hospitals to allow one visit per day by a person designated as a patient's power of attorney. Visitors were subject to “non-invasive” health protocols established by the hospital, but the hospital could not suspend visiting rights even as a result of a disaster or hospital emergency.
Similar laws were enacted in the aftermath of COVID-19, with some criticizing medical facilities blocking all visitors at the start of the pandemic.
Sen. Mark Pody (R-Lebanon) introduced the bill, and Rep. Kip Capely (R-Summertown) sponsored the House version.
Pharmaceutical import program
Lamar has filed Senate Bill 1765 to establish a prescription drug importation program, which the Memphis senator said would save taxpayers money at a time when U.S. prescription drug prices are soaring.
The bill would require state officials to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which approved a similar program in Florida earlier this year. The state of Florida estimates that it will save approximately $183 million annually through the program, which provides “maintenance” medications to people living with conditions such as HIV/AIDS, mental illness, and prostate cancer. We are planning to start using it.
Rep. Larry Miller (D-Memphis) is introducing the House version of House Bill 1956.
