According to Tennessee law, abortion is illegal. If a woman wants to go to a clinic to have an abortion, they must travel to another state. According to the Human Life Protection Act passed in 2022, performing an abortion is a Class C felony and is punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Anyone who performs an abortion is breaking the law and has the potential of being charged with a felony and given a legal consequence, with one exception.
Unfortunately, abortion numbers are rising in the “post-Dobbs” era in our state, from 1,820 abortions in 2023 to 5,870 in 2024.
In Tennessee, the only way a woman can have an abortion is through the abortion pill. Because of shield laws, women can legally use tele-health services and order abortion pills from states who have laws protecting their privacy. Because the abortion pills are FDA approved, they can be mailed through the USPS service. Abortions are illegal, yes, except when done with medication ordered from a protected state. When a pregnant woman goes online to order a pill, from sites like PlanCPills.org, women can choose from a variety of options depending on their age and the price of the pills. After filling out a questionnaire, submitting payment if needed and having a telehealth appointment, a woman will receive their pills in the mail.
The mother takes the first pill, Mifepristone, which stops the baby from forming by blocking the progesterone hormone. After 24 to 48 hours, she takes the second pill, Misoprostol, which will cause the body to deliver the baby.
The chemical abortion pills have been approved by the FDA and are labeled as “safe and effective”. According to data put forth by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, “10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion”.
1 in 10 women have an adverse reaction when taking the abortion pills.
The abortion pills were brought into the American marketplace under President Clinton in 2000, whose legislation required three doctor visits, the pills had to be taken within 7 weeks of conception, the doctor was the only one who could prescribe the pills, and the pills had to be taken in the doctor’s office.
In order to push the abortion pill through the FDA, they had to re-word the language used for an unwanted pregnancy, declaring it a “serious or life-threatening disease”. This language made it possible to quickly approve “certain new drug products that have been studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments.”
Read that again, the FDA reclassified an unwanted pregnancy as a life-threatening disease in order to make at-home abortions an option.
The FDA’s clinical trial size to prove this drug combination was safe and effective was 859 women in the United States.
In 2016, President Obama’s administration reduced the legal requirements down to one doctor visit and the pills had to be prescribed by a physician in office. He also extended the timeframe of being able to take the pills to 10 weeks of gestation.
It was under President Biden’s leadership that the pills no longer required a doctor’s visit and they no longer had to be prescribed by a physician in person. Using covid as a reason to move abortion pills to telehealth only, removed the in-patient care aspect and made it possible for retail purchase online.
In just over two decades, a pill combination that forces a woman’s body to turn against itself, stop developing a baby and force the body to deliver it, went from being pushed through the FDA approval process, was highly regulated and under a doctor’s care to the freedom to order enough to keep on hand, to share with a woman of any age with any condition, and lead to more shame and guilt that come from making such a difficult choice alone.
We should never have been put in this situation. Before President Clinton took office, the pill which was widely used in France, had been banned from ever crossing into US soil under President Bush. Once Clinton approved the testing of the pill, large donors worked together, including George Soros and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and eventually were given the patent rights from the French manufacturing company and the rest is history.
It took a handful of wealthy people to bring the abortion pills to our shores.
It will take much more than that to end their rampant use here in Tennessee.
We find ourselves at a time in our culture where the pro-life movement is splintered and unity is hard to find. What used to be a pro-life vs. pro-choice battle has turned inward, threats and vitriol are being thrown from two camps within the conservative movement and the result is not leading to more babies being saved and women being helped.
In all reality, we are losing. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Tennessee banning all clinical abortions, we lost the ability to regulate in-home abortions. They are now being done in the privacy of a woman’s bathroom, with side effects to bear alone. They are being pressured by men, by parents, by social media influencers and without the care that pregnancy centers have to offer, they will continue to suffer in silence and shame.
Because we are losing, we need to re-evaluate our strategy. It’s time we consider what justice and mercy look like as an effective end to abortion in our state. They go hand in hand, it’s a Biblical truth that’s been implemented into our legal system. We see this play out everyday across Tennessee.
Opioids are illegal in Tennessee because vulnerable people need the law to tell them they cannot use drugs. Ministries and drug rehab centers exist to support men and women who have found themselves caught up in addiction.
Drunk driving is illegal in Tennessee because vulnerable people need the law to tell them they cannot drink more than a certain amount or the impact may be fatal. There are over 200 treatment centers across our state who provide care specific to those dealing with alcohol problems.
Abortion is only illegal in Tennessee if not performed by the woman herself. Abortions are happening every single day by women who are vulnerable and need the law to step in and say, this is not an option.
In-home abortions need to be made illegal so women no longer have the option of doing them. There is no reason not to believe that if the law were to strengthen, the 60 pregnancy resource centers across Tennessee would see an increase in patients looking for help. This is how justice and mercy works. We must be a state who fights for life, together, finding the strength that comes when justice and mercy can be free to serve and protect what we all hold most dear.
The National Memorial for the Unborn was built on the very ground of the last abortion clinic in Chattanooga. What once was a place for death is now a beautiful and lasting memorial for moms and dads who have chosen to honor their babies. Their website provides a virtual tour, as well as the story of the memorial. I highly encourage you to take a moment to visit their site and honor the lives of each child, https://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/.
Resources:
https://www.guttmacher.org/monthly-abortion-provision-study#interstate-travel
https://adflegal.org/article/fda-avoids-accountability-after-supreme-court-ruling/
https://eppc.org/publication/insurance-data-reveals-one-in-ten-patients-experiences-a-serious-adverse-event/
It’s Time to Remove the Option of Abortion in Tennessee
According to Tennessee law, abortion is illegal. If a woman wants to go to a clinic to have an abortion, they must travel to another state. According to the Human Life Protection Act passed in 2022, performing an abortion is a Class C felony and is punishable by 3 to 15 years in prison and up to $10,000 in fines. Anyone who performs an abortion is breaking the law and has the potential of being charged with a felony and given a legal consequence, with one exception.
Unfortunately, abortion numbers are rising in the “post-Dobbs” era in our state, from 1,820 abortions in 2023 to 5,870 in 2024.
In Tennessee, the only way a woman can have an abortion is through the abortion pill. Because of shield laws, women can legally use tele-health services and order abortion pills from states who have laws protecting their privacy. Because the abortion pills are FDA approved, they can be mailed through the USPS service. Abortions are illegal, yes, except when done with medication ordered from a protected state. When a pregnant woman goes online to order a pill, from sites like PlanCPills.org, women can choose from a variety of options depending on their age and the price of the pills. After filling out a questionnaire, submitting payment if needed and having a telehealth appointment, a woman will receive their pills in the mail.
The mother takes the first pill, Mifepristone, which stops the baby from forming by blocking the progesterone hormone. After 24 to 48 hours, she takes the second pill, Misoprostol, which will cause the body to deliver the baby.
The chemical abortion pills have been approved by the FDA and are labeled as “safe and effective”. According to data put forth by the Ethics and Public Policy Center, “10.93 percent of women experience sepsis, infection, hemorrhaging, or another serious or life-threatening adverse event within 45 days following a mifepristone abortion”.
1 in 10 women have an adverse reaction when taking the abortion pills.
The abortion pills were brought into the American marketplace under President Clinton in 2000, whose legislation required three doctor visits, the pills had to be taken within 7 weeks of conception, the doctor was the only one who could prescribe the pills, and the pills had to be taken in the doctor’s office.
In order to push the abortion pill through the FDA, they had to re-word the language used for an unwanted pregnancy, declaring it a “serious or life-threatening disease”. This language made it possible to quickly approve “certain new drug products that have been studied for their safety and effectiveness in treating serious or life-threatening illnesses and that provide meaningful therapeutic benefit to patients over existing treatments.”
Read that again, the FDA reclassified an unwanted pregnancy as a life-threatening disease in order to make at-home abortions an option.
The FDA’s clinical trial size to prove this drug combination was safe and effective was 859 women in the United States.
In 2016, President Obama’s administration reduced the legal requirements down to one doctor visit and the pills had to be prescribed by a physician in office. He also extended the timeframe of being able to take the pills to 10 weeks of gestation.
It was under President Biden’s leadership that the pills no longer required a doctor’s visit and they no longer had to be prescribed by a physician in person. Using covid as a reason to move abortion pills to telehealth only, removed the in-patient care aspect and made it possible for retail purchase online.
In just over two decades, a pill combination that forces a woman’s body to turn against itself, stop developing a baby and force the body to deliver it, went from being pushed through the FDA approval process, was highly regulated and under a doctor’s care to the freedom to order enough to keep on hand, to share with a woman of any age with any condition, and lead to more shame and guilt that come from making such a difficult choice alone.
We should never have been put in this situation. Before President Clinton took office, the pill which was widely used in France, had been banned from ever crossing into US soil under President Bush. Once Clinton approved the testing of the pill, large donors worked together, including George Soros and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and eventually were given the patent rights from the French manufacturing company and the rest is history.
It took a handful of wealthy people to bring the abortion pills to our shores.
It will take much more than that to end their rampant use here in Tennessee.
We find ourselves at a time in our culture where the pro-life movement is splintered and unity is hard to find. What used to be a pro-life vs. pro-choice battle has turned inward, threats and vitriol are being thrown from two camps within the conservative movement and the result is not leading to more babies being saved and women being helped.
In all reality, we are losing. After the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Tennessee banning all clinical abortions, we lost the ability to regulate in-home abortions. They are now being done in the privacy of a woman’s bathroom, with side effects to bear alone. They are being pressured by men, by parents, by social media influencers and without the care that pregnancy centers have to offer, they will continue to suffer in silence and shame.
Because we are losing, we need to re-evaluate our strategy. It’s time we consider what justice and mercy look like as an effective end to abortion in our state. They go hand in hand, it’s a Biblical truth that’s been implemented into our legal system. We see this play out everyday across Tennessee.
Opioids are illegal in Tennessee because vulnerable people need the law to tell them they cannot use drugs. Ministries and drug rehab centers exist to support men and women who have found themselves caught up in addiction.
Drunk driving is illegal in Tennessee because vulnerable people need the law to tell them they cannot drink more than a certain amount or the impact may be fatal. There are over 200 treatment centers across our state who provide care specific to those dealing with alcohol problems.
Abortion is only illegal in Tennessee if not performed by the woman herself. Abortions are happening every single day by women who are vulnerable and need the law to step in and say, this is not an option.
In-home abortions need to be made illegal so women no longer have the option of doing them. There is no reason not to believe that if the law were to strengthen, the 60 pregnancy resource centers across Tennessee would see an increase in patients looking for help. This is how justice and mercy works. We must be a state who fights for life, together, finding the strength that comes when justice and mercy can be free to serve and protect what we all hold most dear.
The National Memorial for the Unborn was built on the very ground of the last abortion clinic in Chattanooga. What once was a place for death is now a beautiful and lasting memorial for moms and dads who have chosen to honor their babies. Their website provides a virtual tour, as well as the story of the memorial. I highly encourage you to take a moment to visit their site and honor the lives of each child, https://www.memorialfortheunborn.org/.
Resources:
https://www.guttmacher.org/monthly-abortion-provision-study#interstate-travel
https://adflegal.org/article/fda-avoids-accountability-after-supreme-court-ruling/
https://eppc.org/publication/insurance-data-reveals-one-in-ten-patients-experiences-a-serious-adverse-event/
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Anne Lowery
Anne Lowery