Tennessee Republican House Members Terri Lynn Weaver and Joey Hensley introduced this obnoxious bill on February 9, 2017 that seeks to delegitimize children born of artificial insemination.
Introduced February 9, 2017
Children – As introduced, repeals statute that deems a child born to a married woman as a result of artificial insemination, with consent of the married woman’s husband, to be the legitimate child of the husband and wife. – Repeals TCA Section 68-3-306.
Why? It is all about gay marriage. In 2016, there was a case in Tennessee of two lesbian women who were divorcing and arguing in court over custody of the child. The child and been conceived by one of the women through artificial insemination.
Weaver, Hensley and other Republicans joined with the conservative Christian group The Family Action Council of Tennessee to file a motion in the cases. Part of the legal arguments centered around whether that Tennessee law that recognizes rights of a child born to a married husband and wife should be interpreted to cover any legal married arrangement. The FACT motion argued that it should only apply to marriages between a man and a woman.
This bill is apparently their way of hedging their bets in case a court ultimately holds that the existing law applies even if the married couple are two women.