{"id":305459,"date":"2024-01-28T09:36:54","date_gmt":"2024-01-28T15:36:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=305459"},"modified":"2024-01-26T10:45:01","modified_gmt":"2024-01-26T16:45:01","slug":"tennessee-lawmakers-criminalize-abortion-trafficking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/tennessee-lawmakers-criminalize-abortion-trafficking\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennessee lawmakers seek to criminalize abortion trafficking"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Tennessee lawmakers <\/span>introduced a bill<\/span><\/a> last Monday that would make it a felony for an adult to take a minor out of state for abortion.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed abortion trafficking law says that any adult who <\/span>\u201crecruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor within this state for the purpose of\u201d access to \u201ccriminal abortion\u201d under Tennessee law \u201ccommits the offense of abortion trafficking of a minor.\u201d The violation would result in a Class-C felony.<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill also notes that the minor would not be subject to prosecution, even if said minor \u201cconsents.\u201d Preborn children are currently protected by law from abortion in most cases in the state.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The bill is sponsored by State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville), who <\/span>said<\/span><\/a> a personal experience motivated him to file the bill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI was involved personally in a situation with a 14-year-old within the last two years in the state of Tennessee where an abortion was being facilitated by someone. The guardian found out about it too late, and were trying to stop it, and so it\u2019s very personal. I was literally involved with that conversation with crying guardians who couldn\u2019t stop what was being done to facilitate an abortion with a child under their care,\u201d Zachary said. \u201cI\u2019m going to always take every step possible to protect life. We\u2019ve done that in our state and I believe we have a mandate to do that based on the makeup of our legislature.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Planned Parenthood has taken issue with the proposal \u2013 a stance that is unsurprising, given the abortion giant\u2019s apparent involvement in <\/span>promoting abortion trafficking<\/span><\/a> and its history of covering for child sex abusers.<\/span><\/p>\n