Healthcare

Tennessee Right to Life held a press conference Friday in the Tennessee Capitol. Lawmakers including Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka (by Tennessee flag, partially obscured,) Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, in navy jacket and khaki pants, and at far left, House Majority Leader Williams Lamberth, R-Pprtland. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Physicians could face abortion charge even if mother’s life is in danger

BY: - June 30, 2022

Far from providing an exception to save a mother’s life, the state law outlawing abortion in Tennessee would allow felony charges to be filed against any physician who performs the procedure even if the mother could die or sustain long-term injury. The legislation passed in 2019, known as a trigger law because it would take […]

More than a thousand people in Nashville on Friday protested the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Businesses craft policies in response to Tennessee abortion ban

BY: - June 29, 2022

Following Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court reversal of Roe v. Wade, several companies announced their support for reproductive rights by offering to cover abortion expenses for employees.  Tennessee’s abortion “trigger ban” law will take effect in mid-August. creating a near-total ban on abortions within state borders.  Tennessee is one of 13 states that have abortion trigger […]

Planned Parenthood clinic

6th Circuit lifts injunction on Tennessee’s 6-week abortion ban

BY: - June 28, 2022

The 6th Circuit Court of Appeals lifted a block on Tennessee’s 6-week abortion ban Tuesday, allowing the 2020 near-total ban on abortions to take effect and effectively ending access to the nearly all abortions in Tennessee. “In light of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization… and with the parties’ consent, we vacate the district court’s […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — People protest in response to the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022, in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

U.S. Senate Democrats urge ‘bold action’ by Biden on abortion rights

BY: - June 28, 2022

 Most of the Democrats in the U.S. Senate have signed on to a letter to President Joe Biden pressing him to “take immediate action” to protect abortion rights, following the U.S. Supreme Court’s Friday ruling overturning Roe v. Wade.  The one-page letter, led by Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray of Washington […]

WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 24: Abortion rights activists react to the Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 24, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Court's decision in Dobbs v Jackson Women's Health overturns the landmark 50-year-old Roe v Wade case and erases a federal right to an abortion. (Photo by Brandon Bell/Getty Images)

AROUND THE U.S.: Leaders react, mobilize in states in wake of Supreme Court decision

BY: - June 27, 2022

Reaction was swift across the U.S. Friday as the U.S. Supreme Court erased almost 50 years of abortion law. Here is look at reports from states as reported by independent newsrooms affiliated with States Newsroom: COLORADO: Colorado abortion rights advocates face new, post-Roe reality In a landmark opinion handed down Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court brought an […]

Nashville women protest the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson on June 24, the day of the ruling. (Photo: John Partipilo)

With Tennessee abortion ban imminent, out-of-state travel could be next battleground

BY: - June 27, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ending the Constitutional right to abortion in the United States set into motion an immediate chain reaction in Tennessee on Friday with one now-inevitable outcome: A near-total ban on abortions within state borders in a matter of weeks, or even days. Abortion providers and advocates warn of an impending “public […]

More than 1,000 protesters in Nashville on Friday filled the city streets to voice displeasure with the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Dobbs v. Jackson. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Thousands of Tennesseans protested for abortion rights on Friday

BY: - June 26, 2022

More than a thousand women marched through downtown Nashville Friday to protest the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to reverse Roe v. Wade, creating a clear path for Tennessee’s abortion “trigger ban” law to go into effect.  Abortion-rights advocates met at the Legislative Plaza to discuss the future for thousands of women who may soon be […]

Charlane Oliver, at right in white t-shirt, speaks on Friday as other women elected officials and candidates stand behind her. Oliver is running to replace Sen. Brenda Gilmore in Nashville's District 19. (Photo: Dulce Torres Guzman)

Tennessee’s elected women, candidates speak on Roe reversal

BY: - June 24, 2022

Following Friday’s U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, many of Tennessee’s women in elected office and female candidates urged Tennesseans to back candidates who support women’s right to legal abortions. Metro Nashville Councilmember Delishia Porterfield, who is also running for the Democratic nomination in Tennessee House District 52, said she will introduce legislation […]

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Attorney General Slatery takes steps to codify new abortion laws

BY: - June 24, 2022

Attorney General Herb Slatery said Friday he will “quickly” notify the Tennessee Code Commission that Roe v. Wade and Casey have been overturned, a step required by state law. The emergency motion he filed with the 6th District Court of Appeals sought to lift a federal injunction against the fetal heartbeat law, prohibiting abortions at […]

Sen. Heidi Campbell, D-Nashville, said Gov. Bill Lee's "pattern of granting no-bid contracts to disreputable companies is really alarming." (Photo: John Partipilo)

Republicans, Democrats split over high court’s abortion ruling 

BY: - June 24, 2022

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision Friday to overturn Roe v. Wade tore the nation’s political garment down the middle as it sent abortion decisions back to the state level. In Tennessee, abortion rights will be nearly outlawed within a month, setting off a celebration among Republicans who passed some of the most restrictive laws in […]

U.S. President Joe Biden called for Congress to pass laws protecting abortion rights after the U.S. Supreme Court sent abortion decisions back to states. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Voters ‘have the final word’ in protecting abortion rights, Biden says

BY: - June 24, 2022

President Joe Biden on Friday called for Congress to pass laws protecting abortion rights and for voters to elect pro-rights candidates on “a sad day for the country” after a landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling on abortion. Biden pledged to fight for policies that protect abortion access, including interstate travel and access to federally approved […]

Attorney General Herbert Slatery has filed a motion with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals to lift a stay on a 6 week abortion ban. (Photo: Tennessee Attorney General)

Tennessee AG files emergency motion with 6th Circuit to lift stay on 6-week abortion ban

BY: - June 24, 2022

Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery has filed an emergency motion with the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals seeking to lift a stay on a 6-week abortion ban enacted by the state legislature in 2020 — within hours of the U.S. Supreme Court’s momentous decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Lifting the appeals court’s stay would make […]