Tennessee churches weigh in on abortion debate

photo The Stuart Heights Baptist Church is using their electronic billboard to influence motorists driving past on Hixson Pike to vote yes on Amendment 1.

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The four proposed constitutional amendments on today's ballot have drawn opponents and supporters alike across the state, but only one -- Amendment 1 -- has earned widespread attention from religious groups.

Amendment 1 seeks to allow Tennessee's General Assembly to further regulate abortion, which the legislature has been hamstrung from doing since a 2000 state Supreme Court case.

And despite an Internal Revenue Service prohibition on churches and other tax-exempt nonprofits from getting involved in politics, election ethics officials say the separation between church and state goes only so far when it comes to ballot issues. Churches and other 501(c)(3) nonprofits can voice their opinions on Amendment 1 largely without fear of losing their tax-exempt status.

At the state level, there's nothing keeping nonprofits from the abortion debate.

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"Our state law does not prohibit them from being involved. It would be up to the IRS on whether their tax-exempt status is affected," according to Drew Rawlins, executive director of the Tennessee Bureau of Ethics and Campaign Finance.

But IRS rules only bar churches and other charitable organizations from backing candidates or partisan issues, according to George Pillsbury, executive director of Nonprofit VOTE, a nonpartisan nonprofit that helps other nonprofits get politically engaged without breaking the rules.

"The IRS considers ballot measures as lobbying, not electioneering," Pillsbury said. "When it comes to candidates, they may not support a candidate for office. But when it comes to ballot measures, a nonprofit -- like any entity -- can spend as much as it wants lobbying, within lobbying limits."

That means, generally, a church or religious group could spend up to 20 percent of its budget as long as it properly reports the expense to the IRS.

Contact staff writer Louie Brogdon at lbrogdon@timesfreepress.com, @glbrogdoniv on Twitter or at 423-757-6481.

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