Tennessee Legislator Wants Death Certificate Issued for Abortions 
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by Steven Ertelt
LifeNews.com Editor
February 13, 2007
Nashville, TN (LifeNews.com) — A Tennessee state legislator says he wants death certificates issued when an unborn child is killed an abortion. Representative Stacey Campfield introduced a bill to do that and says that there’s no difference between the death of an unborn child and anyone else’s death and it should be acknowledged by the state.
Campfield also said the certificates would help the state keep track of exactly how many abortions are done on an annual basis.
"All these people who say they are pro-life — at least we would see how many lives are being ended out there by abortions," Campfield said, according to an AP report.
"The life issue is very important, it’s always been very important to me," he said. "And we’ve really hit a stone wall as far as any sort of [pro-life] legislation moving."
However, House Judiciary Chairman Rob Briley called the bill the "most preposterous bill I’ve seen in eight years in the Legislature."
"I would anticipate that there are some serious legal problems with trying to issue death certificates to unborn fetuses, whether they be aborted or not," Briley added.
Under the measure, abortion businesses would have 10 days to file the death certificate with the state Office of Vital Records.
Myra Simons, a representative of Tennessee Right to Life, said her group had not yet taken a position on the bill.
"It’s a little too early to say whether we will support it," she told AP but said the pro-life group supports Campfield’s efforts to "draw attention to the way abortion is handled in Tennessee."
Abortion advocates may oppose the bill in part because it would include social security numbers on the death certificates that could be used to identify the woman having the abortion.
Related web sites:
Tennessee state legislature – https://www.legislature.state.tn.us
Tennessee Right to Life – https://www.tennesseerighttolife.org
