Dear Supporters and Friends,
Last week, Tennessee legislators introduced an unconscionable new bill that would allow anyone who gets a person pregnant to prevent them from having an abortion through an injunction. A DNA test would not be required to prove paternity and the bill contains no exceptions for survivors of rape or incest. If the pregnant person violated the injunction by having an abortion, they could be held liable in civil or criminal court.
To put it very plainly, this bill is unconstitutional, insulting, and a waste of taxpayer resources. The Supreme Court already determined in the 1992 Planned Parenthood v. Casey ruling that a person seeking an abortion should not be required to obtain her partner’s permission. CHOICES urges the Tennessee legislature to focus on the very real current needs of their constituents: reducing COVID infection rates, increasing vaccine access, and passing much-needed financial relief measures.
If you’d like to help protect abortion access in Tennessee, please consider making a gift to organizations like CHOICES who battle restrictive measures like this one. You can donate by clicking here – every dollar gets put to work serving patients and fighting for the reproductive freedoms of Tennesseans. You can also write to your state representatives and let them know that you will not stand for this unconstitutional bill (HB1079 in the House and SB0494 in the Senate).
As always, thank you for standing with CHOICES! Together we will continue to fight for reproductive freedom in Tennessee.
In solidarity,
Jennifer Pepper, MBA
Executive Director