MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Tennessee attorney general Herbert Slatery only has a short time remaining in that job, but he is not going away quietly.
Slatery is continuing to speak in favor of very conservative and highly political causes. The latest example came last week when he intervened in a federal case defending the state of Idaho's very strict abortion ban.
Similar to Tennessee, Idaho's new law forces doctors who perform an abortion to defend themselves against criminal charges by arguing the procedure was necessary to save the mother's life. One difference between the two states is that Idaho doesn't allow doctors to also claim an abortion was needed to prevent the mother from having life-threatening organ damage.
The justice department is suing Idaho claiming that federal rules allowing abortions to protect the health of the mother supersedes the state law and Slatery is saying the federal government should butt out of state’s rights to ban abortions – even with no exceptions. It just proves that our attorney general is grossly intolerant – and is trampling on the rights of women.
Poll after poll shows that an overwhelming number of Americans support access to safe abortions with some restrictions. They do not support the draconian measures being imposed in red states like Tennessee – to deny rights to women and punish their doctor with jail time. Let's hope voters show their displeasure at the voting booth in November.
