Abortion in Tennessee

[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.

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.

[9] In 2013, state Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) had provisions related to admitting privileges and licensing.

On January 23, 2019, Rep. James "Micah" Van Huss filed HB 77 in the Tennessee House of Representatives.

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.

[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.

[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.

[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.

Protesters also gathered in Knoxville, along Poplar Avenue in Memphis, as well as Founder's Park in Johnson City.

[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.