Commercial Appeal's Ricard Locker ...most accurate on pro life SJR 127.

 Today is a good day in TN regardless of snowfall and school closings. The 107th Tennessee General Assembly  begins its session. This is a big year for pro life advocates as SJR 127 will certainly come up for a vote. We also welcome the most pro life list of legislators. May they not forget why they won election and be  swayed by all the highly paid lobbyists for the abortion industry roaming the halls. The reporters will also be roaming looking for a good sound bite. It is frustrating that no matter how much you try to explain it to them, they can't get it right. Is it because the misinformation is deemed more newsworthy? I hope not. 






Family Action Council /TN  points out some of the misinformation in their email blast today ....

"Yesterday’s Chattanooga Times Free Press reported on SJR 127, saying it “would strip the Tennessee Constitution of any language construed to protect the right to an abortion.” The reporter, who is a friend and actually a good reporter as far as I’m concerned, sort of got it right. He rightly noted that the “right to abortion” in Tennessee’s constitution was a consequence of judicial construction. There is, in fact, no language in the state constitution regarding abortion."

I don't know how many times this particular reporter has been given the correct language and explanation of SJR 127. Every time I see it, I write and correct him.   Fowler goes on to The Scene, a liberal rag  who like the umpire who does not call it like he sees it but sees it like he calls it.

"Of course, the November 11, 2010, edition of the Nashville Scene takes the prize for inaccuracy and hyperbole by saying SJR 127 “would amend the state constitution to strip abortion rights and force women to have the babies of even their rapist.”

Now I found the article in the Commercial Appeal out of Memphis yesterday  surprisingly the most accurate.  Not to pick on the  the Appeal but it is a liberal paper and typically plays to the left leaning readership. Kudos to them for getting it the most accurate.  They are right except that we already have parental notification for minors. Of course, sometimes you would hardly believe it as Planned Parenthood sales personnel counselors  are ready and willing to coach minors on how to get around this .  Remember the pro abortion TV show "No Easy Decision" where a teen got a judicial bypass from a friendly judge that PP sent her to because she did not want her parents to be disappointed in her. Okay off topic...sorry...back to the article from the Commercial Appeal. Here is the quote....

"Lawmakers are virtually certain, for example, to propose a constitutional amendment stripping the "fundamental right" to abortion found in the Tennessee Constitution a decade ago by the state Supreme Court. Bipartisan majorities took the first step in that process during the past term."

"The second step for the amendment is winning two-thirds votes in the House and Senate this year or next, sending it to a statewide ratification vote in 2014. Ratification would free lawmakers to enact abortion restrictions permitted under federal constitutional law, such as mandatory waiting periods and parental notification for minors."

 Yah, Richard Locker who obviously took the time to do some research and except for the parental notification part got it right.  A golden pen to you! Here is the language of SJR 127! So straightforward and easy to find. You can look it up on your computer without leaving the house thanks to the excellent  website at the Legislature.

Nothing in this constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion. The people retain the right through their elected state representatives and state senators to enact, amend, or repeal statutes regarding abortion, including, but not limited to, circumstances of pregnancy resulting form rape or incest or when necessary to save the life of the mother.