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PREDS QUESTIONS
SEPTEMBER 26, 2024 | VOLUME 36 | NUMBER 38
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Enforcement of ‘abortion trafficking’ law halted Judge gives temporary injunction, citing infringement of free speech HANNAH HERNER
Former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at Middle Tennessee State during Constitution Day celebration. PHOTO: HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS
Pence calls for confidence in Constitution, institutions amidst divisive election Ex-vice president spoke at MTSU during Constitution Day celebration HAMILTON MATTHEW MASTERS Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence spoke at Middle Tennessee State University on Sept. 17 during the university’s annual Constitution Day celebration — though he did not note if he will vote in the presidential election. Pence spoke on “Defining Democracy” in conversation with MTSU Honors History Professor Mary Evins and took questions
from the public in MTSU’s Tucker Theatre. The free event saw students, faculty and the general public fill the 831-seat theater with several protesters holding signs outside the building. The celebration also saw students recite the U.S. Constitution and register to vote across campus. The 48th vice president’s appearance at MTSU drew criticism from some students
and community members in the weeks leading up to the event, including from the school’s LGBTQ+ community, some of whom Evins said have “somehow felt fearful” of Pence’s presence on campus. “We had a controversy in Indiana when I was governor,” Pence said, adding that he believes that “marriage is between one man and one woman.” >> PAGE 2
Tennessee’s “abortion trafficking” legislation will not be enforced for now, with a judge ruling that it infringes upon the First Amendment right of free speech. Under Public Chapter No. 1032, passed earlier this year, an adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports a pregnant unemancipated minor” for the purpose of receiving an abortion or obtaining abortion pills would face a class-A misdemeanor for “wrongful death of an unborn child,” which could result in one year of jail time. Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) and abortion fund member and attorney Rachel Welty brought a lawsuit against the district attorneys general for Middle Tennessee in June, asserting that the law could interfere with sharing information about abortion access in other states. Tennessee has a nearly total ban on abortion. United States District Judge Aleta A. Trauger wrote Friday that the defendants’ motion to dismiss was denied and Public Chapter No. 1032 should not be enforced. “Welty and Behn do not just have a right to speak their message, they have a right to live in a state where that message can be repeated by all who find it valuable [and] to all who wish to hear it,” the judge wrote. “Otherwise, there would be no actual freedom of speech — just freedom of a few speakers to address a silenced population.” The district attorneys general defendants include Glenn Funk in Davidson County, as well as Bryant C. Dunaway, Jason Lawson, Jennings H. Jones, Robert J. Carter, Ray Whitley, Robert J. Nash, Stacey Edmonson, Brent Cooper, Ray >> PAGE 2
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