2008 Woodie Awards
Dwindling reproductive rights in Tennessee
Sarah Allen
Issue date: 1/29/08 Section: News/Features
January 22, 2008 marked the 35th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Although Roe is often mistakenly cited to protect only abortion rights, the actual decision outlines the importance of "privacy zones" in women's reproductive destiny that are central to their social and economic advancement. The right to privacy was granted to women in spheres of marriage, sex, contraception, pregnancy, and family planning. The Roe decision made allowances for some state involvement, elaborating that the state's interest in intervening is to protect both maternal health (deemed relevant at the second trimester of pregnancy) as well as fetal health, but only after the ability to survive outside of the womb is established in the latter case. Even after the point of fetal viability, however, states are restricted from prohibiting abortions that are necessary to preserve the life or health, mental and physical, of the mother.
Unfortunately for women in the U.S., privacy rights and reproductive rights have come under persistent attack since the passage of Roe in 1973. Tennessee, which ranks 42nd in laws and policies supporting reproductive freedom according to the Guttmacher Institute, is no exception to the national legal and political trends which have been straying from a commitment to women's rights for over a generation. The main reasons for Tennessee's particularly low ranking derives from a substantial lack of family-planning policies, contraception programs as well as limited access to abortion clinics. It also doesn't help that Tennessee's sex education policy mandates that teachers stress abstinence and does not require that contraception be covered at all. To say something in Tennessee's defense, we must acknowledge that a few of these problems stem from (and are further reinforced by) regressive national policies. In 2003, for instance, the Bush Administration put forward legislation (recently renewed by the Democratic-controlled Congress) that requires that teachers "should include education to encourage abstinence outside a mutually monogamous marriage or union" and should prioritize "extramarital abstinence education and counseling" in order to receive funding. Policies of this sort have undeniably had the state-wide effect of the solidifying and legitimizing the abstinence-only laws in place that govern Tennessee education laws.
Unfortunately for women in the U.S., privacy rights and reproductive rights have come under persistent attack since the passage of Roe in 1973. Tennessee, which ranks 42nd in laws and policies supporting reproductive freedom according to the Guttmacher Institute, is no exception to the national legal and political trends which have been straying from a commitment to women's rights for over a generation. The main reasons for Tennessee's particularly low ranking derives from a substantial lack of family-planning policies, contraception programs as well as limited access to abortion clinics. It also doesn't help that Tennessee's sex education policy mandates that teachers stress abstinence and does not require that contraception be covered at all. To say something in Tennessee's defense, we must acknowledge that a few of these problems stem from (and are further reinforced by) regressive national policies. In 2003, for instance, the Bush Administration put forward legislation (recently renewed by the Democratic-controlled Congress) that requires that teachers "should include education to encourage abstinence outside a mutually monogamous marriage or union" and should prioritize "extramarital abstinence education and counseling" in order to receive funding. Policies of this sort have undeniably had the state-wide effect of the solidifying and legitimizing the abstinence-only laws in place that govern Tennessee education laws.
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