Two Tennessee senators are looking to make sure family planning money doesn't go to places that perform abortions. Senators Marsha Blackburn and Bill Hagerty joined a group of lawmakers behind the Title X Abortion Provider Prohibition Act.
The act would prevent Planned Parenthood and other Title X clinics from getting federal grants and taxpayer money from the Department of Health and Human Services. It provides exceptions for abortions where the pregnancy is a result of rape or incest and if a physician certifies that the woman has a physical disorder that would put her in danger of death without an abortion.
The act would also require the department to provide an annual report to Congress that includes information on grantees who perform abortions. They would also need to provide a list of organizations that grant funds are available to.
However, Planned Parenthood has released a statement that said no center in Tennessee has received Title 10 funding from 2015.
The act also comes one week after a shotgun blast was fired through the front door of the Planned Parenthood on Cherry Street in Knoxville. The shooting happened on the 48th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade court decision.