Allie Phillips
Allie Phillips, a Clarksville woman whose story of pregnancy loss under Tennessee's abortion ban drew national attention, is running for the Tennessee House of Representatives.
Phillips on Monday announced her candidacy as a Democrat for House District 75, represented by Republican freshman Rep. Jeff Burkhart.
Early this year, Phillips learned during a routine anatomy scan that the daughter she had already named Miley Rose would not survive outside the womb. Phillips and her husband Bryan, after discussions with their doctor, determined that termination was the best way to avoid further risk for the mother. Due to the newly enacted ban in Tennessee, Phillips flew to New York City, where doctors informed her that the baby's heart had already stopped beating and an emergency abortion was necessary.
Phillips told the story on TikTok, where it went viral, drawing hundreds of thousands of likes and followers. Later, Phillips joined with women challenging abortion bans in Tennessee and other states as a plaintiff in a lawsuit led by the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Phillips tells Scene sister publication the Nashville Post that while her biggest issue in the campaign is reproductive health care, she is also planning to run in support of public education funding, "keeping guns out of schools," LGBTQ rights including gender-affirming care, access to health care and infrastructure improvements, especially to help Clarksville-Nashville commuters.
She added that though she has paid attention to politics in the past, before the past year she did not consider running for office. Phillips runs an in-home day care and has worked in retail, food service and for an auto auction company.
"This is something new for me," she says. "Given my story and the outreach I've had with it, it seemed like a no-brainer to take this and open new doors. I can scream online all day, but in order to make a change I need to actually be in a position to make that change."
Burkhart's unopposed 2022 election to the District 75 seat was the first since post-census redistricting shrank the district and brought it closer to Clarksville. Phillips says the new-look district "is a winnable seat but not an easily winnable seat."
This article was first published by our sister publication, the Nashville Post.
