The group outside the Tennessee State Capitol was much smaller on Monday than it was two years ago when the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade and set into action Tennessee’s abortion ban.
More than 100 had RSVP’d online as part of a national women’s march, which also took place in cities including Knoxville and Clarksville. A common theme among those gathered is that the Dobbs vs. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision ignited a streak of activism that wasn’t there before.
“I've never been political,” said Teri Mai, a first-time candidate for state House District 92. “I never had this on my bucket list of things I was going to do with my life. My child does not have the same rights that I had at her age.”
Mai told Scene sister publication the Nashville Post her top two reasons for entering the race were gun violence and Tennessee’s nearly total abortion ban. At the Monday meeting, she encouraged people to register to vote.
Cyrah Miller
Co-organizer Vikki H., who asked that we use only her first name and last initial, said the overturning of Roe v. Wade two years ago ignited her activism. She registered to vote in 2024 for the first time after living in the state for five years.
“It’s one of those things where once time goes by, people get complacent, and we can’t be complacent in this,” she said. “I can no longer trust [lawmakers] to make those decisions for me because they're making the wrong ones.”
Monday was the first protest 19-year-old Cyrah Miller has attended. A University of Tennessee Knoxville student, she’s evaluating candidates on their stance on abortion when she votes this year.
“This is something that’s very personal to me,” she said. “Being 19 and going to school and having to deal with this, I don’t know what I would do if I was kind of forced to have a baby at this age and give up things I’ve been working for.”
Physicians gathered at the Justice A.A. Birch Building on Thursday to speak out against the law
Planned Parenthood, legislators react
Earlier in the day, Tennessee Advocates for Planned Parenthood — the political arm of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi — announced it would pivot from lobbying and instead triple investment in smaller political races, including supporting candidates that support reproductive rights.
More than 10,000 women left Tennessee to get an abortion in 2023. Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi has assisted 800 people with its patient navigator program, says Ashley Coffield, CEO of the organization. She also announced its Knoxville location is set to reopen after it was destroyed by arson in 2021.
“We have learned that lobbying legislators on the abortion issue no longer works,” said Coffield in a Monday press conference. “Planned Parenthood has brought thousands of people into the Capitol over the years to have sincere and civil conversations, and it has had no effect.”
Plaintiffs allege violation of First Amendment rights, ask attorneys general not to enforce
Also on Monday, Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) and abortion fund member and attorney Rachel Welty brought a lawsuit against the district attorneys general for Middle Tennessee districts, alleging that a state law passed earlier this year infringes upon the First Amendment right of free speech.
The Senate Democrat women also released a joint statement, signed by Minority Leader Sen. Raumesh Akbari, Democratic Caucus Chairwoman Sen. London Lamar, Vice Caucus Chair Sen. Charlane Oliver, Sen. Sara Kyle and Sen. Heidi Campbell.
“None of us ever thought we would live in an America where women have fewer rights than our mothers and grandmothers or that politicians would use the power of the government to decide when or if we grow our family,” the statement reads, in part. “But these two years have underscored our purpose and our Democratic caucus is more determined than ever to restore this basic freedom to every woman in Tennessee. Women’s lives are at risk and we will not waver until our daughters have the same basic freedoms as our sons.”
In August 2022, Tennessee’s nearly total abortion ban went into effect because of a trigger ban that was passed in 2019, lying in wait to go into effect when Roe v. Wade was overturned. The ban offers only an exception to save the life of the pregnant person, or in instances of molar or ectopic pregnancy. Medical professionals are at risk of losing their license and being convicted of a class-C felony, should they perform an abortion. Local physicians are part of a group suing the state to clarify the circumstances that qualify for an exception.
Exceptions for rape and incest failed this year at the state legislature, and legislation to protect termination of pregnancy in the event of fatal fetal anomalies never came to fruition.
This article was first published via our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
