TN constitutional amendment

By: Caroline Drinnon

In November 2014, Tennesseans voted, through a referendum, on a proposed Constitutional amendment known as Amendment 1. The campaign was one of the most publicized and most expensive in the state’s history. The amendment passed with 53% of the vote. It reads “[n]othing in this Constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or requires the funding of an abortion,” effectively giving state legislators unchecked power to ban abortion as far as the U.S. Supreme Court allows. Since its enactment, the Tennessee legislature has passed bills that ban abortion after 20-weeks of pregnancy and require a 48-hour waiting period before an abortion can be performed.