Under Tennessee law, an abortion is allowed only if a pregnant person is experiencing an ectopic pregnancy or a molar pregnancy, if the fetus is dead, or if the mother will die if the pregnancy is not terminated. There is no exception if the pregnancy is only a few weeks along, if it is the result of rape or incest, if there is a complication that will not allow the fetus to live outside the womb, if the mother cannot afford it, or if they simply don’t want a child at the time.
As someone in the middle of their reproductive years, I have found reporting on abortion in Tennessee anxiety-inducing. While a lawsuit is pending to clarify which conditions would qualify under the exception to save the life of the pregnant person, Abortion Care Tennessee is one of the few organizations that has my back, loudly and without hand-wringing. The nonprofit pays for and schedules procedures out of state and has hosted self-managed abortion trainings. A wave of post-Roe activism has died down, and fundraising events have thinned. Next, the organization will name an executive director, and pivot to more traditional fundraising with expensive dinners and deep-pocket donors.
As we wait for things to change on a legislative level, there has to be someone who says “abortion forever no matter what.” Thanks for being that, Abortion Care Tennessee.
—Hannah Herner
Health Care Reporter, Nashville Post and Nashville Scene
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