Hey Haynes, Who you calling an "extremist"?

State Senator Joe Haynes (Democrat from Nashville) issued a press release today calling the Senators sponsoring SJR-127 "extremists." He also called the senators "out of touch with the opinion of a majority of Tennesseans." Hmmm.

SJR-127 is a proposed Constitutional Amendment to clarify that what is not in the Tennessee Constitution (the right of abortion on demand) is really not in the Constitution. In a weakly-reasoned holding from 2000 (Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Sundquist), a majority of the Tennessee Supreme Court held that abortion is part of an implied right to privacy protected in the Tennessee Constitution and not at all contingent on the U.S. Constitution. Further, the opinion departed from Federal precedent in saying that abortion was a fundamental "right"; thus, any law touching on the grisly act would have to pass the highest standard of judicial review.

Some Senators--who happen to think that unborn human life is worthy of protection, also think that Sundquist was a textbook case of legislating from the bench and have committed to the arduous task (even moreso in our State) of amending the Constitution. For those of you who don't know, the final step of amending Tennessee's constitution is a state-wide referendum on the proposed amendment (read: letting voters register their opinion).

Well, Sen. Haynes is opposing a public debate, not to mention a public vote, on the issue of what protections for abortion should be in our constitution. And Senator Haynes also voted against parental consent (for minors getting abortions) in 1995, against a prohibition of Partial-Birth Abortion in 1997 and against authorization of a specialty "Choose Life" license plate in 2003.

Gee, who is the "extremist" here?