Some of Tennessee’s abortion clinics plan to close shop as the state’s trigger law banning the practice takes effect Thursday.
“Starting August 25th, Choices will no longer provide abortion services due to a new law banning abortions entirely in Tennessee,” says a pop-up message on Choice’s Memphis Center for Reproductive Health’s website.
That clinic’s closing was reportedly described as a “gut punch” by Jennifer Pepper, Choices’ CEO.
“Due to recent changes in Tennessee law, [Planned Parenthood Tennessee and Northern Mississippi] can no longer provide medication or surgical abortion services at our health centers,” says a message on that group’s website.
“We will work with you now and in the coming weeks to help you access the care you need,” it adds.
That statement came months after Planned Parenthood vowed to continue helping women obtain abortions, even if they cannot obtain them in Tennessee.
“We are going to continue to help patients access abortions even though we can’t provide it here at home,” said Ashley Coffield, the CEO of Planned Parenthood Tennessee and Northern Mississippi. “We are going to do everything we can to make sure that finances and logistics does not stand in the way of any person getting the abortion care they need.”
Thursday, it will become a Class C felony for a physician in Tennessee to provide an abortion, except in cases where the mother’s life may be in danger.
The trigger law is called the “Human Life Protection Act,” and passed through the Tennessee legislature in 2019.
The law takes effect after June’s Supreme Court decision in a case called Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which effectively overturned the infamous Roe v. Wade decision.
The ruling grants states the rights to make their own laws regarding abortion access.
“Accordingly, the Human Life Protection Act, codified at Tenn. Code Ann. § 39-15-213, shall take effect on the thirtieth day following the Supreme Court issuing the judgment in Dobbs,” Tennessee Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III wrote in a letter to the Tennessee Codes Commission. “That effective date is August 25, 2022.”
Similar laws will take effect this week in Idaho and Texas.
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter. Email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Planned Parenthood” by Paul Sableman. CC BY 2.0.
