Abortion in Tennessee
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]
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.[2][3][4][5] 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 mother'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."[6]
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.
History[edit]
Legislative history[edit]
The state was one of 10 states in 2007 to have a customary informed consent provision for abortions.[7] 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.[8]
In 2015 Tennessee established a required 48 hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion.[9]
The state legislature was one of eight states nationwide that tried, and failed, to pass a bill to ban early abortion in 2017.[10] They tried again in 2018, where they were one of ten states that tried and failed to pass a fetal heartbeat bill.[10] 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.[11] On February 7, 2019, Sen. Mark Pody filed SB 1236 in the Tennessee Senate.[12] On February 20, 2019, HB 77 was passed out of a Public Health subcommittee and sent to the full committee.[13] On February 26, 2019, the House Public Health Committee voted 15–4 to send HB 77 to the House floor for a full vote.[14][15] On February 7, 2019, HB 77 was passed out of the Tennessee House by a vote of 66–21.[16] 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.[10] In 2020 Tennessee banned abortions because of a prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome or because of the gender or race of the fetus.[17]
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.[18]
Judicial history[edit]
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.[19] (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.[20][21])
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.[22]