Tennessee successfully passed a ballot measure that gives lawmakers more authority to regulate abortion.
Amendment One added language to the constitution of Tennessee clarifying that it does not contain a right to abortion or abortion funding. The amendment is intended to reverse the effects of a 2000 state Supreme Court decision that has prevented lawmakers from restricting the procedure in any way, as lawmakers in other states have done.
The measure also gave Tennessee lawmakers leeway to reduce aborting funding. The amendment states, “Nothing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion.”
Tennessee thus joins Arkansas, Colorado and Rhode Island as states that specifically reference abortion in their constitutions.
Other abortion-related initiatives failed on Tuesday. Ballot measures failed by wide margins in Colorado and North Dakota that would have established legal personhood and human rights for the unborn — a method of legislating around the abortion issue that some pro-lifers approve but others oppose as ineffective, futile or politically counterproductive. Tennessee’s Amendment One passed by five points.
