Janice Bowling

As a member of the Tennessee State Senate, Bowling sponsored a bill restricting the issuance of Tennessee marriage licenses to only marriages between a man and a woman, citing the Supreme Court's "Lemon Test."

Bowling's bill argued that state marriage licenses should be issued only to secular marriages, which are licenses between a man and a woman.{{Cite web|last=Mojica|first=Adrian|date=2020-02-06|title=Tennessee lawmakers: Traditional marriage doesn't 'promote' lack of moral restraints|url=https://fox17.com/news/local/tennessee-lawmakers-traditional-marriage-doesnt-promote-lack-of-moral-restraints|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=WZTV|publisher=Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc.|language=en}}

Although Bowling got her bill passed through committee and the Senate floor, the bill never made it out of subcommittee in the Tennessee House of Representatives and was withdrawn.

{{See also|Republican efforts to restrict voting following the 2020 presidential election}}

In 2021, Bowling spoke against early voting in Tennessee, saying she believed early voting created “mischief.”{{Cite web|date=2021-02-23|title=Tennessee bill to abolish early voting and machines is withdrawn|url=https://www.wkrn.com/news/tennessee-bill-to-abolish-early-voting-and-machines-is-withdrawn/|access-date=2021-02-25|website=WKRN News 2|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|last1=Gardner|first1=Amy|last2=Rabinowitz|first2=Kate|last3=Stevens|first3=Harry|title=How GOP-backed voting measures could create hurdles for tens of millions of voters|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/interactive/2021/voting-restrictions-republicans-states/|access-date=2021-07-13|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}{{Cite web|date=2021-02-18|title=GOP Tennessee State Senator Wants To Abolish Early Voting|url=https://patch.com/tennessee/across-tn/gop-tennessee-state-senator-wants-abolish-early-voting|access-date=2021-07-13|website=Across Tennessee, TN Patch|language=en}} She sponsored a bill reflecting her opinion but withdrew it quickly when she could find no member of the Tennessee House of Representatives willing to sponsor the bill in the house.

In March 2021, the Tennessee State Historical Commission voted to remove the bust of Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest from the Tennessee State Capitol and relocate it to the Tennessee State Museum.{{Cite web|last=WSMV Staff|date=March 19, 2021|title=UPDATE: TN Historical Commission votes to allow removal of Nathan Bedford Forrest bust from the Capitol|url=https://www.wrcbtv.com/story/43467466/update-tn-historical-commission-votes-to-allow-removal-of-nathan-bedford-forrest-bust-from-the-capitol|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=3WRCBtv|publisher=Sarkes Tarzian, Inc.|language=en}} A controversial figure in the state's history, Forrest was a slave trader and one of the first leaders of the Ku Klux Klan.

Less than two weeks following the vote to remove Forrest's bust from the state capitol, Bowling was one of two state legislators who, instead of removing the bust of Forrest, wanted to vote to remove all 29 members of the Tennessee State Historical Commission.

The two legislators’ bills would replace all 29 members with 12 new members.

Bowling said she thought removing the bust was tantamount to the cancel culture movement, saying such cancel narratives that are “based only on fact” are a “dangerous precedent.”{{Cite web|date=2021-03-17|title=Bill would remove all members of the historical commission|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/bill-would-remove-all-members-of-the-historical-commission|access-date=2021-03-18|website=WTVF|language=en}}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bowling expressed unverified claims about COVID-19 vaccines.{{Cite web|last=Yu|first=Yue Stella|date=March 21, 2021|title=Tennessee bill allowing religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines advances in Senate|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/31/covid-19-vaccination-religious-exemptions-during-public-health-crisis-advance-senate/4825721001/|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=The Tennessean|publisher=USA Today Network|language=en-US}} In legislative hearings, Bowling said the vaccines could lead to genetic modification, a theory deemed “misinformation” by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bowling opposed allowing COVID-19 vaccination for minors above the age of 14 and criticized the public health official who supported it by citing Tennessee law.{{Cite web|last=Kelman|first=Brett|title=Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/tennessee-fires-top-vaccine-official-covid-19-shows-new-spread/7928699002/|access-date=2021-07-13|website=The Tennessean|language=en-US}}{{Cite news|title=Health official fired in retaliation for coronavirus vaccine guidance for teens, she says|language=en-US|newspaper=Washington Post|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/07/12/tennessee-fires-vaccination-official/|access-date=2021-07-13|issn=0190-8286}}

In July 2021, Dr. Michelle Fiscus, the medical director for vaccine-preventable diseases and immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health, was terminated after she sent a letter to medical providers who administer vaccines regarding vaccinating minors.{{Cite web|last=Kelman|first=Brett|date=July 12, 2021|title=Tennessee fires top vaccine official as COVID-19 shows signs of new spread|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/health/2021/07/12/tennessee-fires-top-vaccine-official-covid-19-shows-new-spread/7928699002/|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=The Tennessean|publisher=USA Today Network|language=en-US}} In her letter, Fiscus explained the state's “Mature Minor Doctrine,” a legal mechanism based on Cardwell v. Bechtol, 724 S.W.2d. 739 (Tenn. 1987), that stated physicians may treat minors between the ages of 14 and 18 without parental consent, unless the physician believes the minor is too immature to make his or her own health-care decisions.{{Cite web|title=Mature Minor Doctrine|url=https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/health/documents/Mature_Minor_Doctrine.pdf|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=Tennessee Department of Health|publisher=State of Tennessee}}

During a Senate hearing on Fiscus' firing, an angry Bowling argued that the state was misinterpreting its legal authority. She proposed legislation barring government mandates of COVID-19 vaccines and allowing religious exemptions.{{Cite web|last=Yu|first=Yue Stella|title=Tennessee bill allowing religious exemptions from COVID-19 vaccines advances in Senate|url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/politics/2021/03/31/covid-19-vaccination-religious-exemptions-during-public-health-crisis-advance-senate/4825721001/|access-date=2021-07-13|website=The Tennessean|language=en-US}} The legislation was signed into law by Republican Governor Bill Lee, effective May 25, 2021, despite the vocal and aggressive opposition of several organizations for physicians, first responders and other health-care providers.{{Cite web|date=June 15, 2021|title=Legislative Summary Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth|url=https://www.tn.gov/content/dam/tn/tccy/documents/leg/legislat.pdf|access-date=July 22, 2021|website=Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth|publisher=State of Tennessee}}

Bowling claimed that her rural district were providing litter boxes in schools to children that identify as cats. This claim was not substantiated.{{Cite web|date=September 30, 2022|title=Tennessee school officials: No, we did not give litter boxes to students identifying as furries|website=News Channel 5 Nashville|url=https://www.newschannel5.com/news/tennessee-school-officials-no-we-did-not-give-litter-boxes-to-students-identifying-as-furries}}

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20071025002813/http://www.tullahoma-tn.com/Boardbios.htm City of Tullahoma Board of Mayor & Aldermen Bios] Retrieved on 28 October 2007
• {{Ballotpedia|Janice_Bowling}}

• [http://senatorbowling.com Senator Bowling's Official Office Website]
• [http://capitol.tn.gov/senate/members/s16.html Senator Bowling's Senate Web Page] at Tennessee State Senate
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20061108201910/http://www.saveourcityschools.com/vote_page.htm Welcome to the VOTE PAGE] at Tullahoma City School Systems

{{Tennessee State Senators}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowling, Janice}}

Category:Living people

Category:1947 births

Category:Politicians from Selma, Alabama

Category:Tennessee city council members

Category:Republican Party Tennessee state senators

Category:Women state legislators in Tennessee

Category:Women city councillors in Tennessee

Category:21st-century American women politicians

Category:21st-century members of the Tennessee General Assembly