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Knoxville Abortion Clinics Losing Doctors
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By Rikki Hall 
Posted July 2, 2012 at 6:36 p.m., updated July 3, 2012 at 3:46 p.m
A new law and the death of a local doctor have made the availability of abortion in Knoxville uncertain. In April, the Tennessee Legislature passed the Life Defense Act, requiring doctors who perform abortions to have hospital admitting privileges. While the bill’s sponsors never demonstrated a real need for the regulation, which was originally suggested by Tennessee Right to Life, the consequences are turning out to be profound. [Pre-born baby at 10 weeks at right.]
Knoxville’s two licensed clinics that offer surgical abortion, Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health (KCRH) and Volunteer Women’s Medical Clinic (VWMC), serve not just local women, who make up about a third of their patients, but virtually every county in East Tennessee and into Kentucky and Georgia. Chattanooga has no clinic, and more Hamilton County women visit Knoxville clinics than women from Blount or Sevier. Nearly one in 10 patients arrive from neighboring states.
At VWMC, Dr. Richard Manning is the primary physician, and he has opted not to restore his admitting privileges, which he relinquished years ago when he transitioned from full-time OB/GYN practice to the ambulatory surgery clinic. Dr. Manning is 69. As of Sunday, July 1 he can no longer perform abortions in Tennessee.
His colleague at KCRH, whose family requested we not use his name, applied for and received admitting privileges at University of Tennessee Medical Center. Days later he suffered a stroke, and two weeks ago he died. Another local doctor who worked at the clinic earlier in her career has stepped in temporarily, but she is unwilling to assume duties at either clinic permanently.
We will refer to her as “Dr. Sub.” She spoke with Metro Pulse under a promise that we keep her anonymous to protect her not only from domestic terrorists in the anti-abortion movement, but also from social and professional repercussions. And while it takes little effort to find the name of the late KCRH doctor, we agreed to call him “Dr. C” out of respect for a family in mourning, some of whom are unaware that he performed abortions.
Corinne Rovetti, co-director and family nurse practitioner at KCRH, says that doctors who perform abortions tend to be older, having practiced prior to the Supreme Court’s 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion. For younger generations of doctors, the dangers of back-room abortions are abstract, so many see abortion as a controversy to steer clear from rather than a social justice concern to tackle. Rovetti says this shift in attitude has limited the pool of potential recruits to replace Dr. C. Read more here.
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New Law Boosts Tennessee Science Standards
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A new Tennessee law protects science teachers who choose to discuss the controversies surrounding climate change and evolution in the classroom.The Teacher Protection Academic Freedom Act, which became law on April 17, states that:
Neither the state board of education, nor any public elementary or secondary school governing authority, director of schools, school system administrator, or any public elementary or secondary school principal or administrator shall prohibit any teacher in a public school system of this state from helping students understand, analyze, critique, and review in an objective manner the scientific strengths and scientific weaknesses of existing scientific theories covered in the course being taught.
The law does not require teachers to teach alternatives to scientific theories like evolution. Instead, it assures that teachers who do discuss alternate theories will be protected, in keeping with the No Child Left Behind requirement that “the curriculum should help students to understand the full view of scientific views that exist.”
 Tennessee state Senator Bo Watson (R-Hixson) told the the new law would protect teachers whose fear of possible legal repercussions prevents them from adequately addressing student questions:
There appear to be questions from teachers like, ‘What can we discuss and not discuss that won’t get us in trouble as far as nonconventional, nonscientific ideas, things that student may see videos about on YouTube?’ [The bill] doesn’t allow for religious or nonreligious ideology to be introduced.
Opponents disagree, saying the new law will allow teachers to bring religion into the classroom. The bill encountered stiff opposition from groups including the National Association of Biology Teachers and the American Institute for Biological Sciences. Becky Ashe, president of the Tennessee Science Teachers Association, told the Los Angeles Times,
Our fear is that there are communities across this state where schools are very small and one teacher is the science department, and they also happen to teach a Sunday school class, and this gives them permission to bring that into the classroom.
Americans United for Separation of Church and State urged Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam to veto the bill, claiming it was unconstitutional. Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee, told the Wall Street Journal the law was “very clever” but “would clearly gut science education in our schools.” Both groups warned that the new law would expose the state to lawsuits. The Wall Street Journal reported that the Tennessee ACLU is on the lookout for “the right set of facts” and is “certainly ready to pursue litigation.”
Family Action of Tennessee,[President David Fowler] a conservative public-policy group, helped draft the legislation. The group believes the new law will help address weaknesses in the state’s science curriculum standards:
America is lagging behind other nations in the subject of science. And for science to advance, critical thinking skills and an understanding of the scientific method must be developed and strengthened. Yet such skills and understandings are often discouraged, particularly when it comes to certain scientific subjects. For example, in many classrooms, Darwinian evolution is currently taught in a completely one-sided manner, with most students never learning anything about growing scientific controversies about the theory. This may be particularly true in Tennessee where the curriculum standard regarding evolution requires only that students know “the supporting evidence for the theory of evolution,” with no allowance for knowing anything about the controversies surrounding the theory. Read more here.
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Tenn. law restricting sex-ed could serve as national model
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Thanks to sponsors Sen. Jack Johnson, (R-Franklin) and Rep. Jim Gotto (R-Hermitage).
Posted on Jul 5, 2012 | by John Evans
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP) -- State legislators in Tennessee have made it official: Sex toys and graphic promotions of sexual activity are not welcome in public schools.
With the signing into law of SB 3310 by Gov. Bill Haslam, public schools that teach sex education classes must emphasize abstinence, and teachers are barred from promoting "gateway sexual activity" that encourages students to sexually experiment.
"We are very pleased with the passage of the Tennessee law, and we think that it could and should serve as a model for other states to follow," said Valerie Huber, executive director of the National Abstinence Education Association.
Tennessee only mandates sex education in school districts where the teen pregnancy rate exceeds a certain rate. But before the new law, some districts brought in speakers and curriculum that included explicit depictions of sexual conduct.
The Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACTN) documented a 2010 incident at Hillsboro High School in Nashville when a speaker with Nashville CARES, an AIDS awareness and education program, taught a sex education class at the school. The speaker used anatomically correct models to show students how to perform a graphic sex act. FACTN also noted that in some schools, Planned Parenthood presented sexual education curriculum that included links to its national website.
Huber added that some organizations claim they teach abstinence, but their curriculum goes in a decidedly different direction.
"It's asking students to creatively think of what kind of sexual activities they can still engage in and not get pregnant," she said. "Well, that's not how you and I define abstinence."
The new law, signed in May, specifically prohibits promoting sexual experimentation and forbids materials that "condone, encourage or promote student sexual activity among unmarried students," as well as "devices manufactured specifically for sexual stimulation." It also gives parents the option to sue if a teacher violates the law's guidelines.
While the law prohibits distribution of contraceptives on school property, it allows "medically-accurate" information about contraception to be provided as long as it is consistent with the law's other provisions and emphasizes that only abstinence eliminates all risk.
Tennessee's efforts take their place among a larger national struggle over sex education, one that Huber argues is filled with misinformation. She says the NAEA sought to counter that misinformation with a two-part study called "Considerations for Protecting Teen Health" released on June 19. It looks at both so-called comprehensive" sex education (CSE) programs and abstinence-centered sexual risk avoidance (SRA) sex education.
"[W]e think that there needed to be a definitive study that would give us the facts rather than the sound bites, and we think that this study does so in a rather exhaustive manner," Huber said.
Part one of the study examines CSE programs, exploring their curricula, examining what it calls the "debatable" research metrics being used to promote them, and their current promotion by the Obama administration. Read more here. |
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EARLY VOTING STARTS ON JULY 13
Have you read Tennessee Eagle Forum's Candidate Questionnaire?
See it HERE.
The Chart containing the responses can be found HERE.
If YOUR favorite candidate did not respond, ask him or her, 'WHY NOT?'
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OOPS: Some Bad News-- Federal Funds To Planned Parenthood Memphis
Thursday, July 05, 2012
Lt. Governor Ron Ramsey made the following statement after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced plans to give an annual grant of $395,000 to Planned Parenthood Memphis:
"By funneling federal tax dollars to abortion providers in Tennessee, Barack Obama has proven once again why he needs to be defeated for a second term. Tennessee has taken a stand against Planned Parenthood's pro-abortion shell game and defunded these organizations for a reason. This money is a clear attempt to subvert the actions of state government and prop up a culture of death on the decline.
The need for pro-life leadership in the White House has never been stronger."
The Susan B. Anthony List, a national pro-life organization, also criticized the Obama Administration for awarding the federal funds, saying it was "bypassing the will of the Tennessee legislature and governor."
The grant announcement was made today by Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN), a longtime ally of Planned Parenthood.
“From day one of his presidency, Obama has gone to extremes to support Planned Parenthood, America’s largest abortion provider,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List. “He has refused to yield in the face of Planned Parenthood’s scandals including their exposure as an ally of alleged human traffickers and as willing to turn a blind eye to sex-selective abortion in their clinics. Additionally, it defies reason to send more federal funds to an organization that has been found culpable in the waste, abuse, and potential fraud of millions of taxpayer dollars.
“Clearly, protecting Planned Parenthood’s taxpayer funded bottom line – and not protecting women and girls – is President Obama’s top priority. Come November, the SBA List will work to ensure voters remember this at the ballot box.” Read more here.
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