Jake Lowary

USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee

Clarification: This story has been updated to clarify Gov. Bill Haslam's comments on how he will handle the bill once he receives it.

With protesters chanting nearby, the Tennessee state Senate on Monday passed a controversial measure that will ban abortions in the state after 20 weeks, which some argued could land the state in court over the bill’s constitutionality.

The bill (SB1180/HB1189), dubbed the “Tennessee Infants Protection Act,” has been split in committee votes, and the concerns of potential court action have been a common point of criticism, though the Senate sponsor Sen. Joey Hensley, R-Hohenwald, has said the legislation was based on a similar law in Ohio that has not been challenged in court.

Senators approved the measure 27-3 after lengthy debate about the bill. Senate Republicans unanimously approved the measure. Three of the five Senate Democrats voted against the measure and two did not vote.

The full House is expected to take up the measure this week also.

Senate leaders said late last week when the bill was delayed that they felt the measure would stand up in court, despite concerns from state Attorney General Herbert Slatery that the measure was “constitutionally suspect.” Slatery said last week that he would defend the proposed law even with the concerns.

Gov. Bill Haslam told reporters on Monday that he will review the bill before making a decision on whether to sign the bill, veto it or allow it to take effect without his signature.

"We will see," Haslam said. "When it gets to us, we'll have those conversations both with the Attorney General our own review of the bill before we make our decision."

The proposed law would require tests for viability to be done at the 20-week mark. Hensley, a physician, said there is a 4-week margin of error in initial gestational estimates and babies at the 24-week mark are medically viable, and that courts have upheld other 20-week bans before. Doctors would be subject to up to a felony charge and, if convicted, would face up to 15 years in prison.

"We want every child that has a chance at life to have a chance," Hensley said.

He said the proposed law "would do nothing" to change current abortions that happen before 20 weeks in the state. As a practical matter, none of Tennessee’s abortion clinics perform abortions past 16 weeks.

RELATED:

20-week abortion ban advances in Tennessee House

Tennessee AG: 2 more abortion bills ‘constitutionally suspect’

Beth Berry, a lobbyist who has testified on behalf American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology said there is no definitive medical test for viability, regardless of gestational age. Berry said she has concerns the bill would subject doctors to prosecution.

"Experts can disagree whether it was a medical necessity. Experts can disagree whether it was an emergency," Berry said, according to the Associated Press. "And to have physicians subject to criminal and civil liability when they can't even understand what the definitive law is, it's a major concern for doctors."

Hensley has argued that no doctor working “in their good faith” would be subject to prosecution.

Several pro-choice groups have protested the legislation as it has progressed through the legislative process, and dozens more were in the rotunda to protest the Senate vote on Monday.

Three senators spoke against the legislation, saying it was the government interfering with private family decisions.

"This is a sea change from where we currently sit under the U.S. Constitution," said Senate Minority Leader Lee Harris, D-Memphis.

Francine Hunt, the executive director of Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood, called the law "unconstitutional" and was one of about a dozen women who stood in silence and dressed as handmaids, referencing the Margaret Atwood novel "The Handmaid's Tale" that's become popular recently through a new television series.

"What we've seen in Tennessee that connects well with that novel is, over the last several years, we've seen a rolling back of our rights as women and democratically as citizens of Tennessee," Hunt said.

Jake Lowary covers Tennessee politics and state government for the USA Today Network. Reach him at 931-237-1583 or follow him on Twitter @JakeLowary.