A Tennessee bill would allow a father to petition an abortion before a pregnant woman undergoes the procedure.
Under the bill sponsored by two GOP lawmakers, a man would be allowed to petition a court for an injunction against the procedure if he opposes an abortion by the woman he impregnated.
Sen. Mark Pody said he introduced the bill after speaking with a resident who raised concerns that fathers don’t have a say in abortions under the current law.
“I believe a father should have a right to say what’s gonna be happening to that child,” Pody said, according to the Tennessean. “And if somebody is going to kill that child, he should be able to say, ‘No, I don’t want that child to be killed. I want to able to raise that child and love that child.'”
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If the bill passes, a judge can grant the petition as long as a man can prove he is the biological father of an unborn child and if there is a “reasonable possibility” that a woman would seek an abortion. No DNA evidence would be required if the woman acknowledges the man’s paternity, though it would be up to the judge to decide if there is enough evidence to prove the man is the father of the child.
For unmarried couples, the father would have to establish his paternity voluntarily, but he would be able to without a woman’s consent and can deny the abortion once his paternity is proven.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood allies opposed the bill, arguing that it would give men control over women’s bodies.
“A pregnant person must have the ultimate control over their body and their pregnancy,” said Francie Hunt, executive director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood. “The legislature needs to stop trying to distract the public from their leadership failures with increasingly stigmatizing abortion restrictions.”
Tennessee passed another bill in 2020 tightening abortion restrictions, which prohibits the procedure after a fetal heartbeat is detected, which can be as soon as six weeks into a pregnancy. The law excludes women whose lives are threatened by the pregnancy but does not make exceptions for cases of rape or incest.
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The ban also prohibits abortions pursued over the child’s sex, race, or diagnosis of Down syndrome. If a doctor performs an abortion in any of the cases laid out by the restrictions, it would be considered a Class C felony.
Women, however, are still allowed to seek out an abortion under the current law, given that legal challenges have stalled enforcement for many of the restrictions.
