Conservative activists and politicians sometimes let it slip that targeted regulation of abortion providers (TRAP) laws, aren’t medically necessary measures but are really just efforts designed to close abortion clinics. For example, Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryan admitted last year that he signed new regulations into law in order to shut down the state’s sole abortion clinic and “make Mississippi abortion-free.”
David Fowler of the Family Action Council of Tennessee made a similar acknowledgment while speaking to Family Research Council President Tony Perkins on yesterday’s edition of “Washington Watch,” where the two were discussing a new Tennessee law establishing “a 48-hour waiting period and in-person counseling before a pregnant person can receive abortion care.”
Fowler said that he hopes that Tennessee lawmakers will now enact even tougher anti-choice regulations, such as an ultrasound requirement, as part of his campaign to close Planned Parenthood clinics in the state, particularly one in Memphis.
He told Perkins he wants the Memphis clinic shut down because it has “become an abortion destination” for women from other states like Mississippi, where it has become difficult to find an abortion provider.
“You can actually see some of those [clinics] shut down,” Perkins said.
“You could,” Fowler replied. “Because we didn’t have informed consent laws, waiting period laws, clinic regulations, Memphis in particular did become a hub because states like Mississippi and Arkansas had strong laws. That was part of our argument, we’ve become an abortion destination.”
“We might see some of those places close and good riddance,” Fowler added.
