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.
Did Last Week’s U.S. Supreme Court Decision Kill Roe v. Wade?
May 1, 2020 by David Fowler
Last week, in Ramos v. Louisiana, the United States Supreme Court gave Governor Lee and the Tennessee General Assembly a precedent that should encourage them to reconsider the “laddered” approach to abortion legislation that the Senate Ju...
Will TN Let Abortion Clinics Keep Getting Away with Murder?
Apr 17, 2020 by David Fowler
This week several Tennessee abortion clinics sued to have a federal district court in Nashville prevent Governor Lee’s executive orders on social distancing and essential services from applying to their abortion practice. Parts of the press rel...
If Abortion Is Protected From COVID-19 Orders, Why Isn’t Worship?
Apr 3, 2020 by David Fowler
This week, a pastor of a megachurch in Florida was arrested because the church continued to hold worship services in violation of the state’s COVID-19–predicated “sheltering” order and three federal judges ruled unconstitution...
Schumer’s Attack on Supreme Court Justices—Mission Accomplished
Mar 13, 2020 by David Fowler
In my view, most pundits completely missed the point of Senator Chuck Schumer’s attack on Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh last week when the U.S. Supreme Court was hearing arguments on the constitutionality of Louisiana’s aborti...
Test the Limits or Pull the Trigger—Two Approaches to Abortion
Mar 6, 2020 by David Fowler
Governor Lee’s abortion legislation (SB 2196/HB 2263) sailed out of the state Senate’s Judiciary Committee on Tuesday. This coming Tuesday, both the governor’s proposal and the Rule of Law Life Act (SB 1780/HB 1962) will be on the c...
The Pro-Life Issue That Stopped Me in My Tracks
Feb 28, 2020 by David Fowler
Next week we will see the details of Governor Lee’s proposed legislation on abortion. In anticipation of that, a friend suggested to me last week that I pull together in one article a summary of the key points I’ve made over recent months...
Is Pro-life Despair Concerning Roe v. Wade’s Reversal Justified?
Feb 21, 2020 by David Fowler
Last week I spoke with a legislator who gave voice to what a number of legislators believe: The U.S. Supreme Court is not ready to reverse Roe v. Wade, so enacting any legislation—even that proposed by the governor—thinking it might lead ...
Will SCOTUS Use Louisiana’s Abortion Law to Overturn Roe v. Wade?
Feb 14, 2020 by David Fowler
In August, members of the Judiciary Committee of the Tennessee Senate heard two pro-life legal experts say that it was not wise to enact any legislation that challenges the legitimacy of Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) and its progenitor, Roe v. W...
Good and Bad Pro-Life Incremental Legislation
Feb 7, 2020 by David Fowler
Most likely the Tennessee Legislature will approve some pro-life legislation this session. For the Christian, the issue underlying every proposal will be whether incrementalism—not enacting legislation that directly attacks Roe v. Wade and Case...
Commentary