FRANKLIN, Tenn. (April 9, 2019)—The following statement can be attributed to FACT President David Fowler:

It was an honor to offer testimony today in support of the constitutionality of the “fetal heartbeat” bill, Senate Bill 1236.

In my view, the bill directly presents to the federal courts for the first time a question as to why it is constitutionally necessary to use a medical prognosis of survival outside the womb as the measure of viability, as in Roe, as compared to a medical diagnosis as to the presence of a viable human life, when the Constitution does not even address the viability of a life in connection with abortion.

Just as importantly, the bill presents the state with an opportunity to assert for the first time the right to life of one whom the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals referred to repeatedly in last week’s decision upholding Kentucky’s ultrasound law as an “unborn child” and “unborn life.”

Though the Ninth Amendment prohibits the “enumerated rights” in the Constitution from being “construed” to “deny or disparage others retained by the people,” to my knowledge no state has ever asserted that right on behalf of the voiceless children who cannot make their own claim to both life and liberty.

When infanticide seems to be constitutionally protected as “abortion,” it is time that the state asserts the child’s competing right not to be deprived of life and liberty without due process of law.

Diagram of Rights

This is the slide presentation that accompanied Mr. Fowler’s April 9, 2019, testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee in support of the “fetal heartbeat” bill and, after reading his testimony, may help you “picture” what he was saying.

David Fowler’s Three-Minute Testimony Before the Senate Judiciary Committee

FACT President David Fowler gave testimony in support of the “fetal heartbeat” bill to the Senate Judiciary Committee at the Tennessee General Assembly on April 9, 2019.
 

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The Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT), which Fowler heads, was formed in 2006 by a group of citizens concerned about the growing negative impact of public policies on marriage, families, life, and religious liberty.

FACT’s mission is to equip Tennesseans and their elected officials to effectively promote and defend a culture that values God’s design for the family, for the sake of the common good.