The 13th amendment of the constitution gives all people the right to be free of involuntary servitude.

I am a reproductive age female in TN that is now going to be forced to do surrogacy work against my will if I am;

1) raped (1 in 6 women are raped) or

2) my contraceptive methods or sterilization fails

This violates my constitutional right protected by the 13th amendment to be free from "involuntary servitude". I will be forced to do the work surrogates are paid to do against my will because of the "trigger law" (Bill SB1257) my state legislature and gov. Bill Lee signed into law.

Bill SB1257 bans all abortions - no matter the case.

Surrogate mothers are paid, showing gestation is indeed a transacted power in the marketplace, a marketplace that the 13th amendment establishes as “a system of completely free and voluntary labor throughout the United States.” Birth is referred to as “labor” and is considered strenuous work for the human body. Gestation is the work surrogates are paid to do. No one should be forced to perform any work against their will.  

Definition of “involuntary servitude” as the “control by which the personal service of one man is disposed of or coerced for another’s benefit” encompasses the burden imposed on women by laws against abortion, since the “natural operation” of a statute prohibiting abortion is to make it a crime for a woman to refuse to render gestation service to a zygote.  

If a woman is coerced against her will to gestate, control over her body and its reproductive capacities is seized from her and directed to a purpose not of her own.  

The 13th amendment guarantees the liberty not to have one’s body controlled by and for others.  

TN lawmakers have decided I do not have the right to decide when or if I want to work as a surrogate.

Policies that force people to remain pregnant and give birth are unconscionable, cruel, and dangerous. 1- 2 women die every day because of pregnancy/birth. Some women are chronically ill and take a medication that carries a significant risk of birth defects if their contraception fails.

This is a dangerous violation of constitutional rights for all women in my state. This terrible law will cause bodily harm to women and prevent women from participating fully in the economy and political walk of American life. 

Forced-birth laws mandate a woman not only to withstand childbirth but also to choose: either raise a child she does not want or surrender it. 

Please sign and share so women are not forced to do surrogacy work against their will.