A Tennessee lawmaker helped pass a strict abortion law. He's now trying to loosen it
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Republican state Sen. Richard Briggs co-sponsored a Tennessee bill that would codify some of the country's most austere abortion restrictions. He says he never thought it would actually become law.

Five years ago, when state Sen. Richard Briggs co-sponsored legislation that would codify some of the country’s most austere abortion restrictions in Tennessee – it seemed to him like little more than political theater.

“The truth was I thought it would never come to be,” he says.

But three years later it did come to be. The Tennessee state law was triggered after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and ended the federal right to abortion. The state law established strict abortion bans and potential criminal penalties for doctors who violate them.

Now Briggs is fighting an uphill battle to undo some of the legislation he helped to put into place. It’s a battle that some experts say could be instructive for the rest of the country.

  • athos77@kbin.social
    29·
    7 months ago

    when state Sen. Richard Briggs co-sponsored legislation that would codify some of the country’s most austere abortion restrictions in Tennessee – it seemed to him like little more than political theater. “The truth was I thought it would never come to be,” he says.

    Maybe you should spend more time thinking about the implications of a law instead of political grandstanding.

    in this case, Briggs acknowledges, changing the law to restore a woman’s right to end a dangerous pregnancy has been difficult. “It’s been proven to be very stubborn,” he says.

    Maybe you should think about the people your laws are going to effect (especially when they’ll never affect you, rich elderly white man), and actually listen when they try to tell you how your laws will affect them.