Abortion in Tennessee is illegal from fertilization except to "prevent the death of the pregnant woman or to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman". [1] [2] Tennessee is one of four states which prohibit abortion in their state constitution; alongside Alabama, Louisiana, and West Virginia.
The ban took effect on August 25, 2022, thirty days after the Tennessee Attorney General notified the Tennessee Code Commission that Roe v. Wade was overturned on June 24, 2022. [3] [4] [5] [6] Following the Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision, it became the only state with no direct exception in case of risk to the pregnant individual's life; rather, there was an affirmative defense included in the ban, meaning that someone who performed an abortion could be charged with a felony, but only had an opportunity to prove that the procedure was necessary — either to prevent the patient from dying or to prevent serious risk of what the law calls "substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function." [7]
The number of abortion clinics in Tennessee decreased over the years, with 128 in 1982, 33 in 1992, and 7 in 2014. There were 12,373 legal abortions in 2014, and 11,411 in 2015.
The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 53% of people from Tennessee said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases. [8]
The state was one of 10 states in 2007 to have a customary informed consent provision for abortions. [9] In 2013, state Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) had provisions related to admitting privileges and licensing. They required clinics have hospital privileges and transfer agreement with a hospital. [10]
In 2015 Tennessee established a required 48 hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion. [11]
The state legislature was one of eight states nationwide that tried, and failed, to pass a bill to ban early abortion in 2017. [12] They tried again in 2018, where they were one of ten states that tried and failed to pass a fetal heartbeat bill. [12] Two fetal heartbeat bills were filed in the Tennessee General Assembly in 2019. On January 23, 2019, Rep. James "Micah" Van Huss filed HB 77 in the Tennessee House of Representatives. [13] On February 7, 2019, Sen. Mark Pody filed SB 1236 in the Tennessee Senate. [14] On February 20, 2019, HB 77 was passed out of a Public Health subcommittee and sent to the full committee. [15] On February 26, 2019, the House Public Health Committee voted 15–4 to send HB 77 to the House floor for a full vote. [16] [17] On February 7, 2019, HB 77 was passed out of the Tennessee House by a vote of 66–21. [18] As of May 14, 2019, the state prohibited abortions after the fetus was viable, generally at some point between weeks 24 and 28. This period uses a standard defined by the US Supreme Court in 1973 with the Roe v. Wade ruling and was not a result of state-based legislation. [12] In 2020 Tennessee banned abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or because of the gender or race of the fetus. [19]
Due to the trigger law prohibiting abortion from the point of fertilization which was adopted on April 22, 2019, abortion became illegal from the point of conception in Tennessee on July 25, 2022, 30 days after the overturning of Roe v. Wade . [20]
The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester. [21] (However, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization , No. 19-1392 , 597 U.S. ___(2022) later in 2022. [22] [23] )
Tennessee's heartbeat bill and the Texas-style abortion ban have been in court due to pro-abortion rights organizations suing the state of Tennessee. [24]
On September 12, 2023, three women filed a lawsuit against the state of Tennessee over the state's abortion ban, stating that they were denied abortions despite having dangerous pregnancy complications. [25] On January 8, 2024, four additional women and two doctors joined the lawsuit. [26]
In October 2024, a Tennessee court blocked enforcement of the abortion ban in certain emergencies, ruling that the medical emergency exception in Tennessee's abortion ban was unclear and violated a pregnant individual's right to life under the Tennessee state constitution. The preliminary order said that abortion must be allowed if a pregnant patient's water breaks too early, the cervix dilates before the fetus is viable, or if a fetus has a fatal diagnosis that threatens the pregnant patient's health. It barred the state from disciplining doctors who performed abortions under those circumstances. [27]
Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state declined by 47, going from 128 in 1982 to 33 in 1992. [28] In 2014, there were seven abortion clinics in the state. [29] In 2014, 96% of the counties in the state did not have an abortion clinic. That year, 63% of women in the state aged 15–44 lived in a county without an abortion clinic. [30] In 2017, there were four Planned Parenthood clinics, all of which offered abortion services, in a state with a population of 1,519,130 women aged 15–49. [31]
On July 13, 2022, the Memphis City council passed the Reproductive Autonomy is Necessary (RAIN) Act in an effort to lessen the extent to which statewide policy will affect childbearing women in Memphis. [32]
In a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center, 55% of adults in Tennessee said that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases and 40% said it should be legal. [33] By 2022, support for legal abortion in the state had greatly increased.
Political affiliation | Legal in all cases | Legal only in special cases [a] | Illegal in all cases |
---|---|---|---|
Democratic | 70% | 22% | 6% |
Republican | 8% | 54% | 33% |
Independent | 38% | 46% | 12% |
Total | 36% | 44% | 17% |
Women from the state participated in marches supporting abortion rights as part of a #StoptheBans movement in May 2019. [35]
In Memphis and Nashville, groups of people gathered to protest the abortion ban that would take place after the leaked draft opinion overturning Roe v. Wade. Many women shared their abortion stories at the protest. [36] [37]
In Nashville, Tennessee, hundreds gathered at the Legislative Plaza on June 24, 2022, following the overturn of Roe v. Wade. Protesters also gathered in Knoxville, along Poplar Avenue in Memphis, as well as Founder's Park in Johnson City. [38]
On September 26, 2022, an abortion rights protester began walking across the entire state of Tennessee, a 538-mile walk, to protest the state Supreme Court's decision to overturn abortion rights. [39]
In 2024, Allie Phillips ran for a Tennessee House seat in District 75 following being forced to leave the state to get an abortion in New York for a non-viable pregnancy. [40]
In 2020, thousands of people attended the March for Life in Knoxville supporting abortion bans and restrictions. [41]
On January 23, 2021, a man fired a shotgun at a Knoxville, Tennessee Planned Parenthood clinic; no one was injured. News outlets noted that the attack took place on the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision and at a time when Tennessee's governor, Bill Lee, was involved in a heated online debate regarding abortion and health care. The same man later attacked the clinic in December. [42]
On December 31, 2021, New Year's Eve, a fire destroyed a Planned Parenthood in Knoxville, Tennessee. The building was closed at the time for renovations. The Knoxville Fire Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives ruled the fire arson. The clinic had previously been shot at in January of the same year. [43] In October 2022, federal court documents identified the arsonist as Mark Thomas Reno, who previously attacked the clinic in January and was present at the January 6 Capitol attack. Reno died on August 15, 2022. [44]
On August 2, 2022, a Tennessee federal judge issued a restraining order against anti-abortion group Operation Save America after several of their members were arrested during protests at clinics in Nashville, Tennessee and Mt. Juliet in late July. [45] [46]
In the period between 1972 and 1974, there were zero recorded illegal abortion death in the state. [47] In 1990, 554,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. [28] In 2010, the state had no publicly funded abortions. [48] In 2013, among white women aged 15–19, there were 690 abortions, 650 abortions for black women aged 15–19, 50 abortions for Hispanic women aged 15–19, and 20 abortions for women of all other races. [49] In 2017, the state had an infant mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 live births. [50]
Census division and state | Number | Rate | % change 1992–1996 | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1992 | 1995 | 1996 | 1992 | 1995 | 1996 | ||
Total | 1,528,930 | 1,363,690 | 1,365,730 | 25.9 | 22.9 | 22.9 | –12 |
East South Central | 54,060 | 44,010 | 46,100 | 14.9 | 12 | 12.5 | –17 |
Alabama | 17,450 | 14,580 | 15,150 | 18.2 | 15 | 15.6 | –15 |
Kentucky | 10,000 | 7,770 | 8,470 | 11.4 | 8.8 | 9.6 | –16 |
Mississippi | 7,550 | 3,420 | 4,490 | 12.4 | 5.5 | 7.2 | –42 |
Tennessee | 19,060 | 18,240 | 17,990 | 16.2 | 15.2 | 14.8 | –8 |
Location | Residence | Occurrence | % obtained by out-of-state residents | Year | Ref | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^ | No. | Rate^ | Ratio^^ | ||||
Tennessee | 10,987 | 8.5 | 135 | 12,373 | 9.5 | 152 | 21.3 | 2014 | [52] |
Tennessee | 10,361 | 8 | 127 | 11,411 | 8.8 | 140 | 20.3 | 2015 | [53] |
Tennessee | 10,523 | 8.1 | 130 | 11,235 | 8.6 | 139 | 18.6 | 2016 | [54] |
^number of abortions per 1,000 women aged 15–44; ^^number of abortions per 1,000 live births |
According to Pew Research Center, in Tennessee, adults aged 30–49 are the age demographic that has the highest percentage of people thinking abortion should be legal in most cases (35%). [55] According to the Lozier Institute, in 2019, 55% of Tennessee's abortions were at 8 weeks gestation or earlier, 23% were performed at between 9 and 10 weeks, 6% at 13 to 14 weeks, and 2% between 17 and 20 weeks. [56] There were 26 cases of failed abortions with no complications, 17 with delayed or excessive hemorrhage, 15 with delayed or excessive hemorrhage after a failed abortion, and 17 cases that had unspecified complications. [56]
A 31-year-old Tennessean was charged with attempted first-degree murder in December 2015. The charge was based on an attempt to give herself an illegal abortion using a coat hanger. [57]
Abortion in Oklahoma is illegal unless the abortion is necessary to save the life of a pregnant individual.
Abortion in Alabama is illegal. Historically, Alabama's abortion laws have evolved from strict regulations in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to a period of liberalization following the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide. However, Alabama has consistently enacted legislation aimed at restricting access to abortion.
Abortion in Missouri is currently illegal and will be legal 30 days after the November 5th general election up to the point of fetal viability as a result of 2024 Missouri Amendment 3. Current law provides that any constitutional amendment or new constitution shall take effect at the end of 30 days after the election when approved by a simple majority of the votes cast on the measure.
Abortion in Arkansas is illegal except when it is necessary to save the life of the pregnant individual. Doctors determined to have performed an abortion face up to 10 years in prison and fines up to $100,000.
Abortion in Delaware is legal up to the point of fetal viability. As of June 2024, Civiqs polling found that 72% of Delawareans believed that abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 23% believed it should be illegal in all or most cases. There was a therapeutic exceptions in the state's legislative ban on abortions by 1900. Informed consent laws were on the books by 2007. In 2017, Senator Bryan Townsend, D-Newark introduced legislation to try to make clear that abortion would remain legal in the state in case 1973's Roe v. Wade ruling was overturned. The legislation was subsequently updated. Attempts have been made to introduce mandatory ultrasound laws, but they failed to get out of committee. State legislators tried to move ahead the week at which a woman could get a legal abortion in 2019.
Abortion in Idaho is illegal from fertilization. Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, abortion in Idaho was criminalized by the trigger law which states that a person who performs an abortion may face two to five years of imprisonment. The ban allows exceptions for maternal health, rape and incest within the first trimester. The law took effect on August 25, 2022.
Abortion in Kansas is legal. Kansas law allows for an abortion up to 20 weeks post-fertilization. After that point, only in cases of life or severely compromised physical health may an abortion be performed, with this limit set on the fact that a fetus can feel pain after that point in the pregnancy. In July 2024, the Kansas Supreme Court struck down two abortion restrictions.
Abortion is illegal in Kentucky, except to save a pregnant woman’s life or to prevent disabling injury.
Abortion in Maine is legal, although terminations after fetal viability can only be performed if a physician determines it to be medically necessary. According to a poll by the Pew Research Center, 64% of adults said that abortion should be legal, with 33% stating that it should be illegal in all or most cases.
Abortion in Michigan is legal throughout pregnancy. A state constitutional amendment to explicitly guarantee abortion rights was placed on the ballot in 2022 as Michigan Proposal 22–3; it passed with 57 percent of the vote, adding the right to abortion and contraceptive use to the Michigan Constitution. The amendment largely prevents the regulation of abortion before fetal viability, unless said regulations are to protect the individual seeking an abortion, and it also makes it unconstitutional to make laws restricting abortions which would protect the life and health, physical and/or mental, of the pregnant individual seeking abortion.
Abortion in Minnesota is legal at all stages of pregnancy and is restricted only to standards of good medical practice. The Minnesota Supreme Court ruled the Minnesota Constitution conferred a right to an abortion in 1995 and the DFL-led Minnesota Legislature passed and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz signed into law a bill in 2023 to recognize a right to reproductive freedom and preventing local units of government from limiting that right. The Center for Reproductive Rights labels Minnesota as one of the most abortion-protective states in the country.
Abortion in Mississippi is illegal. The new law took effect on July 7, 2022, after Mississippi State Attorney General Lynn Fitch certified on June 27, the Supreme Court decision on Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on June 24 of that year. State Attorney General Lynn Fitch's certification made Mississippi's 2007 'trigger law' go into effect and ban all abortions in the state, “except in the case where necessary for the preservation of the mother's life or where the pregnancy was caused by rape".
Abortion in North Dakota is technically legal, but with no current providers. The state's sole abortion clinic, the Red River Women's Clinic, relocated to Minnesota.
Abortion in Ohio is legal up to the point of fetal viability as a result of abortion rights being placed into the Ohio State Constitution by November 2023 Ohio Issue 1.
Abortion is legal in Pennsylvania up to the 24th week of pregnancy. 51% of Pennsylvania adults said in a 2014 poll by the Pew Research Center that abortion should be legal and 44% said it should be illegal in all or most cases. The 2023 American Values Atlas reported that, in their most recent survey, 63% of Pennsylvanians said that abortion should be legal in all or most cases.
Abortion in Rhode Island is legal up to the point of fetal viability. On June 19, 2019, the legal right to abortion was codified into Rhode Island law by passage of the Reproductive Privacy Act.
Abortion in South Carolina is illegal after detection of a "fetal heartbeat", usually around 6 weeks from the woman's last menstrual period, when many women are not yet aware that they are pregnant. On May 25, 2023, Governor Henry McMaster signed a 6-week ban, and it took effect immediately. The ban was indefinitely blocked in court on May 26, and reinstated by the South Carolina Supreme Court on August 23.
Abortion in Wisconsin has been legal since September 18, 2023, and is performed in Madison, Milwaukee and Sheboygan through 22 weeks gestation. However, elective abortions in Wisconsin are under dispute after the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court of the United States on June 24, 2022. Abortion opponents cite an 1849 law that they claim bans the procedure in all cases except when the life of the mother is in danger. However, lower level courts have argued that the law only applies to infanticide and not consensual abortions. The enforceability of the law is disputed and being considered by the state courts. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin announced that they would resume abortion services in Madison and Milwaukee on September 18, 2023. Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin later announced that they would resume abortion services in Sheboygan on December 28, 2023.
Abortion in Iowa is illegal after detection of embryonic cardiac-cell activity. Embryonic cardiac-cell activity can be detected from around six weeks after the pregnant individual's last menstrual period, when many people are not yet aware that they are pregnant. Exceptions for the abortion ban after detected embryonic cardiac-cell activity include some instances of rape, incest, fetal abnormalities and threats to the pregnant individual's life.
Abortion in Wyoming is legal up to fetal viability. A temporary court injunction was filed against an attempted near total abortion ban in 2023, and a Wyoming judge struck down the abortion ban in 2024.
Summary: As introduced, prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected
Summary: As introduced, prohibits abortions from the point a fetal heartbeat is detected
A bill that would outlaw abortions in Tennessee after a fetal heartbeat can be detected advanced out of a legislative subcommittee on Wednesday. The measure, proposed by state Rep. Micah Van Huss, R-Jonesborough, and state Sen. Mark Pody, R-Lebanon, would make it a crime to perform an abortion in Tennessee once a fetal heartbeat can be detected — which typically occurs in the early weeks of a woman's pregnancy.
Republicans on the House Health Committee voted 15-4 to send the legislation to the House floor for a full vote
A House committee voted 15-4 in favor of a bill that would ban most abortions in Tennessee, getting one step closer to a vote by the legislature on one of the most restrictive abortion bans in the nation. The so-called "fetal heartbeat" bill is making its way through Senate committees but easily passed early hurdles. Tuesday's vote in the health committee means the bill moves on to a vote by the House of Representatives.
The Tennessee House of Representatives passed a bill on Thursday that would outlaw abortions in the state after a fetus has a detectable heartbeat. . . The legislation passed 66-21.
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