The 2017 Tennessee legislative session began mid January and will close late April or early May. Stay tuned to this space for updates on efforts that Healthy and Free and it's partners are leading that support real reproductive freedom and sexual health and oppose bills designed to take Tennessee backwards. 

2017 Legislative Watch List

Fetal Personhood

SB 0754 sponsored by Senator Beavers / HB 0895 by Rep. Pody codifies that human life and legal personhood begins with fertilization, cloning, or its functional equivalent: Oppose

Fetal Assault Law

SB 1381 sponsored by Senator Tate with no House co-sponsor: Oppose

 SB 1385 sponsored by Senator Tate / HB 0620 by Rep. Favors requires reporting to the commissioner on geographic distribution and program adequacy of treatment resources for people affected by substance abuse: Watching

Abortion Access

HB 0663 sponsored by Rep. Hill with no Senate co-sponsor amends tort law to create a cause of action for emotional distress resulting from an abortion: Oppose

 SB0766 sponsored by Senator Beavers / HB 0101 by Rep. Weaver prohibits abortions after 20 weeks except to preserve the life and health of the mother: Oppose

 SB 0244 sponsored by Senator Beavers / HB 0108 by Rep. VanHuss requires fetal heartbeat testing prior to abortion and prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected: Oppose

 SB 1180 sponsored by Senator Hensley / HB 1189 by Rep. Hill enacts the “Tennessee Infants Protection Act” which prohibits abortion of a viable fetus except in a medical emergency and requires testing to determine viability if at least 20 weeks pregnant: Oppose

Contraception Access

SB 1142 sponsored by Senator Kyle / HB 0721 by Rep. Powell enacts the “Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act” which requires all health insurance policies to cover contraception with some exceptions: Support

 SB 0883 sponsored by Senator Harris / HB 1320 by Rep. Stewart enacts the “Long-Acting Birth Control Information Act” which requires family planning centers to provide information and access to LARCs Long-Acting Birth Control: Support

Minimum Healthcare Standards

SB 0830 sponsored by Senator Yarbro / HB 0842 by Rep. Fitzhugh establishes minimum essential benefits for health insurance coverage in the state of Tennessee that is no less extensive than that available under the federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: Support

Menstruation Hygiene Access

SB 0741 sponsored by Senator Yarbro / HB 0804 by Rep. Fitzhugh eliminates the sales tax on over-the-counter medicine, diapers, and menstruation products and reduces sales and use tax rate on food and food ingredients by 0.5% each year beginning on January 1, 2018: Support

SB 1118 sponsored by Senator Kyle/ HB 0833 by Rep. Jones reduces the state sales and use tax rate on retail sales of diapers, feminine hygiene products, and nonexempt over-the-counter drugs from 7 percent to 5 percent.

SB 1115 sponsored by Senator Kyle/ HB 0832 by Rep. Jones requires all public high schools to provide free feminine hygiene products: Support

Pregnant and Parenting Worker Rights

SB 1141 sponsored by Senator Kyle / HB 1184 by Rep. Powell requires that all employers give their employees six weeks of paid leave for adoption, pregnancy, childbirth, or nursing an infant: Support

 SB 1029 sponsored by Senator Yarbro / HB 0834 by Rep. Jones requires employers to provide notice of a pregnant employee’s right to a reasonable accommodation and requires employers to make reasonable accommodations for pregnant employees upon request: Support

Lactation Consultant Regulation

SB 0049 sponsored by Senator Massy / HB 0622 by Rep. Favors enacts the “Tennessee Lactation Consultant Practice Act” which creates a process for licensing and regulation of lactation consultants: Support

Primary Caregiver Sentencing Reform

SB 0919 sponsored by Senator Dickerson / HB 0825 by Rep. Gilmore requires a court to sentence a person who was convicted of a nonviolent offense and is the primary caretaker of a dependent child to an individually assessed sentence based on community rehabilitation with a focus on parent-child unity and support: Support

Anti-Transgender Student Bathroom Bill

SB 0771 sponsored by Senator Beavers / HB 0888 by Rep. Pody requires students in public schools to use restrooms and locker rooms assigned to persons of the same sex as shown on the students’ birth certificates: Oppose

Tennessee Anti-LGBTQ Marriage Act

SB 0752 sponsored by Senator Beavers / HB 0892 by Rep. Pody enacts the “Tennessee Natural Marriage Defense Act” which defines natural marriage as between one man and one woman regardless of any court decision to the contrary: Oppose

Anti-LGBTQ Parent Bills

SB 1153 sponsored by Senator Hensley / HB 1406 by Rep. Weaver repeals the statute that deems a child born as a result of artificial insemination to be the legitimate child of the parents: Oppose

 SB 0300 sponsored by Senator Bowling / HB 0033 by Rep. Ragan requires that words “husband” “wife” “mother” “father” apply in Tennessee code to only heterosexual cisgendered parents: Oppose

SB 1085 sponsored by Senator Stevens/ HB 1111 by Rep. Farmer requires that undefined words be given their "natural and ordinary" meaning: Oppose 

Business Right to LGBTQ Discrimination

SB 0127 sponsored by Senator Green / HB 0054 by Rep. Zachary prohibits discriminatory action against businesses based on their internal policies, including discriminating against LGBT employees or customers, among other discriminatory practices: Oppose

Preventing Unintended Pregnancy in Higher Education

SB0521 sponsored by Senator Massey/ HB 1388 by Rep. Jernigan requires the commission to develop a plan, in collaboration with the boards of public universities and community colleges, to address the prevention of unintended pregnancies among older teens and single students: Support