When a Supreme Court draft leaked earlier this week spelling the probable reversal of Roe v. Wade, abortion providers, funds and advocacy organizations weren’t necessarily surprised. It had been on their radar for years, but they thought they would have more time to prepare.
Tennessee has a trigger law that would go into effect 30 days after a Roe reversal, effectively banning abortion in the state except in cases when the mother’s life is in danger.
Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said in a recent press conference that the organization is starting a patient navigator program to help people plan and pay for out-of-state abortions. She predicts that for the Nashville area, they’ll mostly help arrange travel to Illinois.
“I think we knew this day would come, it’s just very shocking,” Coffield said during the conference. “The decision, if you read it, is shocking in its language, and how it stigmatizes people who have had abortions and abortion providers.”
She stressed that this rollback would especially affect communities of color, noting that 36 percent of abortions in Tennessee happen in Shelby County (likely due to the two clinics in the county and those traveling from nearby areas). Eighty percent of those patients are Black.
The organization is also planning to rebuild its Knoxville clinic, which was destroyed by arson in December. While clinics would be banned from providing abortions, the Knoxville location would still offer other health services including birth control, STD testing and pregnancy services.
In a post-Roe v. Wade world, Abortion Care Tennessee would pivot to using its fund to help with travel costs for out-of-state abortions, says spokesperson Erin Fagot, speaking on behalf of the organization. There’s gray area in how the fund could connect with patients, however, as they currently pay for abortions through clinics, not directly to patients.
“We can legally support those patients, even if abortion is illegal in Tennessee with a trigger law, by providing other options for travel,” Fagot says.
That may not remain true if Tennessee introduces additional restrictions, as with a recent Missouri bill that aims to allow private citizens to sue anyone who helps a Missouri resident obtain an abortion out of state. The Tennessee legislature also attempted to pass a law earlier this year similar to a Texas law allowing any individual to sue another individual who “aids or abets” someone looking to obtain an abortion.
Advocacy organization Healthy and Free Tennessee will stay on its toes even after a potential Roe v. Wade reversal, watching for further restrictions, noting legal action against providers and pregnant people, a lack of education to new doctors and a national abortion ban as future concerns.
Briana Perry, co-executive director of Healthy and Free Tennessee, says the organization will provide training around self-managed abortion and respond to a potential uptick in criminalization of abortion, potentially providing legal and bail funds.
“We're imagining that we will need to be in place to fight some of this legislation in the coming years, because the end of Roe v. Wade and the end of abortion access in Tennessee is not the end of legislation around abortion,” adds Anna Carella, co-executive director of Healthy and Free Tennessee.
