In the wake of the one-year anniversary of the overturning of Roe v. Wade, one abortion business in Tennessee is doing its best to instill fear by insinuating that the well-being of all pregnant women is in danger, simply because they are no longer legally able to kill their children in the state.
Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi issued the warning, offering the idea that because the state has a law that protects nearly all preborn children from abortion, women should avoid it altogether.
“One year ago, Tennessee faced an instant health emergency for pregnant people, when we became a forced birth state. It is more dangerous and more deadly to be pregnant in Tennessee. If you’re pregnant, you shouldn’t travel here and if you live here, you might have to travel out of state for life-saving care,” said Ashley Coffield, the Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO.
Coffield also decried the fact that the state’s law does not include exceptions for cases of rape and incest. “This is a burden on everyone and raises real questions like, ‘How much do I control my own life, compared to the government or to a lawmaker who barely understands my biology, my values my family?'” she said. “The reality of abortion bans is far more devastating and inhumane than many people really understood a year ago.”
Despite these claims, it is neither dangerous nor deadly to be a pregnant woman in Tennessee. Doctors can still provide urgent, life-saving treatment to the mother without directly and intentionally killing her preborn child.
Thanks to continued medical advances, children delivered as early as 21 weeks have survived outside the womb. Should a life-threatening condition require a preterm delivery even earlier than that, every care, comfort, and medical attention can be offered to the child regardless of his or her likelihood of survival.
In contrast, abortion violently and brutally ends the life of the child through starvation, suction, dismemberment, or poison. There is never a reason to subject an undelivered human to such treatment.
Additionally, not allowing abortion for rape or incest further protects preborn children while also protecting the mother. Rape is an incredibly traumatic experience. While most people advocate for abortion in response to this tragedy, killing the woman’s preborn child — an entirely innocent party who then becomes a victim of homicide — is not the answer, and often compounds the trauma the mother experiences.
“Now, nearly five years removed from the decision to have my abortion, I can say with some certainty that I regret it to the fullest extent possible,” explained one woman. “My heart hurts deeply with the wounds that came from my assault. But the pain of knowing that I will never meet my child hurts more deeply. While I continue to wonder how I could have coped with having a baby from rape, I know that killing him did nothing to heal my pain.”
Planned Parenthood’s warning to pregnant women is baseless and nothing more than fear-mongering. If it cared about the well-being of pregnant women, it would be working to ensure that high-quality prenatal care is available in the state. Instead, it is focused solely on looking for ways to make it easier for women to kill their children.
