Senate passes bill to require DNA samples from some abortions
NASHVILLE, Tenn.- Doctors performing abortions on girls younger than 13 years old would be required to preserve a sample of the fetal tissue for law enforcement purposes under a bill passed by the Senate on Thursday. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation could use those samples for DNA tests to help prosecute rapists, said Sen. Roy Herron, the bill's sponsor. 
"Whoever has sex with a child 12 years of age or younger is committing rape, whether force is involved or not, and they ought to be prosecuted," said Herron, D-Dresden. Sen. Randy McNally, R-Oak Ridge, asked whether the tissue sample requirement would still be necessary if emergency room physicians were able to get body fluid samples immediately after a rape occurs. "The short answer is yes," replied Herron. "Most of the time these rapes that take place are not acts of somebody who does not know the victim; they are perpetrated by people who do know the victim. "And often the rapes are not reported and not discovered until days later, or weeks later _ sometimes even months later," he said. The "Child Rape Protection Act of 2006" passed the Senate on a 29-0 vote. A companion bill has lingered in a House subcommittee for a month and is not scheduled for discussion until April 4. Similar legislation was signed into law in Kansas last year. Keri Adams, of Planned Parenthood of East and Middle Tennessee, said her organization supports any measure that helps protect children against rape. "We just want to be sure it follows privacy laws," said Adams. The bill would require records be kept of the names and residence of the victim and parent or guardian. The Senate Judiciary Committee knocked down the penalties against doctors found to violate the proposed rules from a misdemeanor to a civil penalty of $500 for the first violation, and from a felony to a misdemeanor for the third violation.
Herron was among nine senators who voted against a proposal passed earlier this month to amend the state Constitution so that it doesn't guarantee the right to abortion. Herron had been among senators who wanted to protect women's rights to abortion in the event of rape or incest, or when the mother's life is in danger. That measure failed. A former United Methodist minister, Herron emphasized Thursday that his bill is not meant to encourage abortions. "I didn't bring this legislation to say that these girls that are 12 years old or younger should have abortions," he said. "I bring it so whoever commits rape is prosecuted."
It should be anyone under the age of 18 years-shouldn't it?
See SB2993 on the General Assembly's Web site at http://www.legislature.state.tn.us/
