There is one thing abortion rights advocates and opponents agreed on Tuesday during a specially called session to discuss a measure that would effectively ban all abortions in Tennessee: Should the measure become law, a lengthy legal battle will follow.

Lawmakers on the state's Senate Judiciary Committee heard a second day of testimony on a measure that would redefine the viability of a fetus to the moment a pregnancy can be detected.

On Tuesday, they heard for the first time from those who support abortion rights.

"We will sue and we will win," Hedy Weinberg, executive director of the ACLU of Tennessee, told a panel of seven Republicans and two Democrats.

"What is frustrating is that many of you know this will absolutely be the trajectory of this bill, should it pass."

But Republican lawmakers who support the measure say that legal trajectory is the point.

MORE:5 things to know about Tennessee's proposed abortion ban

They hope to enact a measure that will make it to the U.S. Supreme Court, putting Tennessee on track to be the state responsible for dismantling Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision guaranteeing the right to an abortion.

"We don't need to make a pro-life statement," said Sen. Kerry Roberts, R- Springfield. "I don't want to win the battle. I want to win the war."

ACLU: Bill puts politics over health

Weinberg said the measure put politics above women's health and accused lawmakers of knowingly going forward with an unconstitutional proposal to use as a "political football" to gain votes during primary races.

The measure, originally known as the "heartbeat bill" because it banned most abortions the moment a fetal heartbeat was detected, failed during the last legislative session after the state's leading anti-abortion group, Tennessee Right to Life, lobbied against it, saying it could not survive a legal challenge.

It also lacked the support of the state's influential Republican lieutenant governor. On Monday, Lt. Gov. Randy McNally again indicated he was not supportive of the bill.

The measure, which one supportive Republican lawmaker now calls a "conception bill," goes further than the original bill to redefine the moment a fetus is considered viable.

Instead of well-established court rulings that defined viability as the time a fetus can survive outside a mother's womb, the measure defines viability starting at the point a pregnancy can be detected. The distinction is important because the U.S. Supreme Court has upheld the right to abortion up to the point of fetal viability.

The bill won't come up for a vote for months, or longer.

Heather Shumaker, an attorney for the National Women's Law Center, testified that the measure would force women to travel out of state for abortions, posing an especially difficult burden on poor women, women who already have children and minority women.

The measure could also have unintended consequences by extending its prohibitions to contraceptives that prevent pregnancy, said Dr. Nikki Zeit, an obstetrician and gynecologist.

Zeit said doctors are already grappling with whether their discussions with patients about medical care could cross legal boundaries.

"This could be dangerous," she said.

Lawmakers hear conflicting testimony

Lawmakers heard conflicting testimony about whether the bill would be the most effective avenue to challenge the Supreme Court's rulings establishing a right to abortion.

Adam MacLeod, a professor at Faulkner University in Montgomery, Alabama, told lawmakers that he believed the measure could be defended under the Ninth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution establishing common law rights for everyone. The U.S. Supreme Court relied on the 14th Amendment to establish a right to abortion.

But Jim Bopp, an attorney for the National Right to Life Committee, urged lawmakers to reconsider. The group advocates against abortion but does not support Tennessee's measure.

Bopp said that the bill language defining viability so early in a pregnancy was "irrational."

"It makes us look foolish," he said. "And I do not want to look foolish."

The conflicting interpretations of possible legal outcomes left some lawmakers on the committee grappling with what to do.

"I'm trying to sort out who to listen to," Roberts said.

But Sen. Janice Bowling, R-Tullahoma, was among those who appeared undeterred by testimony advising lawmakers that the measure would likely be struck down by courts.

Taking no action, Bowling said, would only lead to more abortions.

"The current approach we are taking, a lot of infants are going to die and a lot of people are getting impatient," she said.

Sen. Mike Bell, R-Riceville, said the committee would continue to examine the measure in the coming months. Bell, the chair of the committee, also said suggested he would consider alternatives to find the "best vehicle to achieve our goal, which is the end of abortion."

The nearly four-hour meeting included several disruptions, including at least four audience members being asked to leave for shouting comments.

The committee entered into a brief recess, as several Republican lawmakers left their seats and state troopers entered the room when speaker Cherisse Scott of SisterReach refused to end her testimony against the abortion measure. After Scott finished speaking, the hearing resumed.

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Reach Anita Wadhwani at awadhwani@tennessean.com; 615-259-8092 or follow her on Twitter @AnitaWadhwani.