Tennessee Right to Life and pro-life Tennesseans are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Dobbs decision which overturned the injustice of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion on demand. The Dobbs decision confirmed what pro-life advocates have known since 1973 – there is no right to abort unborn children in the Constitution. The intentional killing of unborn children is not a constitutional right.
After 49 years, 5 months and 2 days of living under the tragedy of Roe, the high Court rightly decided that, “The Constitution does not confer a right to abortion; Roe and Casey are overruled; and the authority to regulate abortion is returned to the people and their elected representatives.”
When the responsibility of protecting the right to life of unborn children was returned to the states, Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act was triggered into effect. The law restored the state’s pre-Roe protections that made aborting children illegal.
The Human Life Protection Act is one of the strongest pro-life laws in the nation. Since June 24, 2022, an estimated 10,000 unborn children have been saved from abortion in Tennessee.
During the 2023 legislative session, the law was clarified by explicitly stating that treatment for ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy or miscarriage are not violations under the law. Furthermore, the affirmative defense was changed to an exception for those cases when the mother’s life is in danger.
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“We are proud of the work we did this year in defending the Human Life Protection Act against efforts to weaken its efficacy. All the effort that went into defending our law this past session was well worth it knowing that there are babies alive today because of it. We will continue to make sure Tennessee remains the most pro-life state in the country,” said Will Brewer, Legislative Liaison for Tennessee Right to Life.
Tennessee Right to Life and pro-life advocates across the state are commemorating a year of life without Roe.
“We are celebrating that with the Dobbs decision, our Tennessee law now reflects our Tennessee values and protects the right to life of our most vulnerable citizens. These events will allow pro-life Tennesseans to celebrate Dobbs and to recommit ourselves to working for a day when abortion is not only illegal but unthinkable. The Supreme Court decision last year was only the beginning,” said Stacy Dunn, President of Tennessee Right to Life.
