In our blog, read about the political and cultural issues affecting Tennesseans written from a conservative perspective. Commentaries are typically written by David Fowler, an attorney who served in the Tennessee state Senate for 12 years before joining FACT as President.
Abortion Trial Over TN Law Shows Why Roe v. Wade Hasn't Been Overturned
Sep 27, 2019 by David Fowler
This week, a federal district court judge began listening to testimony in regard to a lawsuit brought by various abortion clinics in Tennessee against a state law that requires a 48-hour waiting period between a woman’s first appointment with a...
The Fundamental Abortion Question Isn’t What You Think
Aug 23, 2019 by David Fowler
I have listened again to all the legal testimony presented to the Senate Judiciary Committee in connection with the overhauled version of the “heartbeat” bill. There is a sense in which the fundamental issue isn’t whether one believ...
The Elephant in the (Abortion Hearing) Room
Aug 16, 2019 by David Fowler
The Senate Judiciary Committee’s two-day hearings were the best and most significant hearings I’ve been part of in my more than twenty-five years in state politics. Many statements from pro-life and pro-choice witnesses against the bill d...
Shining the Light on Roe v. Wade and the ‘Heartbeat’ Bill Controversy
Aug 9, 2019 by David Fowler
Next Monday and Tuesday the Senate Judiciary Committee will hear lawyers wrangle over the constitutional defensibility of a so-called “fetal heartbeat” bill. The version of the bill passed by the House is a ‘heartbeat’ bill. C...
Is the Fetal Heartbeat Bill Viable?
Mar 8, 2019 by David Fowler
The bill making it a crime for a doctor to perform an abortion (except under limited circumstances) once a fetal heartbeat is detected is “Exhibit A” among the perils of lawmaking and constituent advocacy. I spent six years of my life as ...
Will Legislators Take a Consistent Approach to Abortion and Marriage?
Feb 15, 2019 by David Fowler
Three bills filed in the General Assembly—two on abortion and one on marriage—point out how hard it is to find a consistent principle by which to govern. Here’s what I think needs to be done.
Two Approaches to Reversing Roe v. Wa...
Has Evangelicalism Unwittingly Aided Cuomo and NY’s Abortion Law?
Feb 1, 2019 by David Fowler
Many in Tennessee and across the nation are appalled at the callousness toward human life underlying the abortion-to-the-moment-of-delivery law passed by New York’s legislature and praised by Gov. Andrew Cuomo. But does today’s version of...
Commentary