Tennessee Abortion Numbers Drop As Neighboring States See Increase

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The Tennessee Conservative [By Jason Vaughn] –

A new national study has tracked a noticeable decline in the number of abortions performed in many states – including Tennessee – since the overturning of Roe v. Wade by the Supreme Court. While there has been a decline in abortions performed in Tennessee, the number has jumped in neighboring states. 

In Tennessee, there were around 1,180 abortions performed in April 2022. By July the number had decreased to 280; when checked again in August, there were 260. 

A new data tracking effort launched by the Society of Family Planning called WeCount provided this data. WeCount obtained the results from its own database of clinics, private medical offices, hospitals, and virtual-only providers that was created. 

The results reflect swift changes after the Tennessee trigger law kicked in following the Supreme Court decision in June, which left each state the authority to decide whether or not it was going to regulate, restrict, or ban abortions. 

On June 28, following the Supreme Court decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, a six-week abortion law was put into practice in Tennessee, ending access to abortions for patients with more advanced pregnancies. Less than a month later, on August 25, a full ban on abortions was put in place in Tennessee. Clinics that once provided abortion ceased the offering immediately. 

The data compiled also showed how the neighboring states of Tennessee, with laws allowing abortion, saw a significant increase of the number of procedures provided. North Carolina, being on Tennessee’s northeastern border saw a 37% increase between April and August of the number of abortions provided. Illinois, where abortion clinics are accessible, and are located about 3 hours from Nashville and Memphis saw a 28% uprise in the number of abortions sought at that time. 

The study, however, did not specifically track and specify whether Tennessee women traveled out of state for abortions. 

The study concludes that abortions have declined 6% nationally between April and August. The decline was more prevalent in the Southeast (in the region that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Texas) where research estimated the number of abortions decreased by 96% between April and August. Totally, that represents a drop from 6,810 abortions in April to 270 in August. 

Sources state that Tennessee lawmakers will consider legislation in the next session of the General Assembly to ban Tennesseans from traveling outside the state to receive abortions. This will be a topic The Tennessee Conservative will be closely monitoring.

About the Author: Jason Vaughn, Media Coordinator for The Tennessee Conservative  ~ Jason previously worked for a legacy publishing company based in Crossville, TN in a variety of roles through his career.  Most recently, he served as Deputy Director for their flagship publication. Prior, he was a freelance journalist writing articles that appeared in the Herald Citizen, the Crossville Chronicle and The Oracle among others.  He graduated from Tennessee Technological University with a Bachelor’s in English-Journalism, with minors in Broadcast Journalism and History.  Contact Jason at news@TennesseeConservativeNews.com