Hundreds Protest Reversal of Roe v. Wade in Downtown Nashville

On Friday, hundreds gathered in downtown Nashville to protest the Supreme Court's decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, a ruling that will pave the way for a near total ban on abortions in states including Tennessee. Protesters marched from Legislative Plaza to the Metro Courthouse, and photographer Hamilton Matthew Masters was on the scene.

The state's trigger law is set to go into effect 30 days after the end of Roe v. Wade. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery said Friday that he is working to notify the Code Commission to identify the official starting date of the trigger law. His office also asked a federal court to reconsider its injunction on another Tennessee anti-abortion law, possibly setting up new restrictions sooner than the 30-day trigger.

The state's Human Life Protection Act, which passed in 2019, allows only the risk of death or major irreversible impairment of the mother as a defense for getting an abortion. To learn more about the law, read our interview with Stella Yarbrough, legal director for ACLU of Tennessee, here.

Hannah Herner contributed to this article.