The Conversation/Tennessee News Service Collaboration.

Tennessee's trigger ban on abortion is slated to go into effect next month, and some experts say the Supreme Court's decision overturning Roe v. Wade could pave the way for more women to be prosecuted for conduct during pregnancy.

University of Tennessee law professor Wendy Bach said state judges previously have used a so-called "fetal assault" law to jail a pregnant person on probation if a court has evidence that they're using drugs. Bach predicted that the Supreme Court decision opens the doors to state legislatures passing more laws that punish pregnant people, instead of providing help and treatment.

"There's a woman who was charged for criminal conduct for falling down a fight of stairs," she said, "so the range of conduct that we are talking about, that prosecutors have decided to charge is significant."

Bach said the fetal assault statute was not renewed by the Legislature in 2016 and is no longer law. However, she said Tennessee prosecuted and jailed about 120 women between 2014 and 2016 for potentially harming the fetuses they carried by taking narcotics. That's despite recommendations from the American Medical Association and other groups to create specialized drug-treatment programs during pregnancy rather than incarceration.

Bach said she also is concerned that abortion bans could dissuade people, especially those in Black and Brown communities, from disclosing information to their doctors - or avoiding medical care altogether.

"So, virtually every criminal court file I looked at documenting the fetal assault prosecutions contained information discovered in the medical setting," she said, "statements women made to their doctors, which their doctors really, really need to know."

Bach pointed out that a statewide lack of resources for people with substance-use disorders ultimately led to the end of the fetal assault law.

"We have very, very, very few beds to actually care for folks, so I think some of the legislators felt that it wasn't fair to criminalize the conduct if we couldn't provide the care," she said. "And also, some data that came out around women disengaging from care because of the fetal assault law."

She added that states such as Minnesota, South Dakota and Wisconsin have authorized involuntary commitment, either in medical facilities or jail, of people who use drugs or alcohol during pregnancy.


This story was produced with original reporting from Wendy Bach for The Conversation. Find the original article here.


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The U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments this week on Idaho's near-total abortion ban.

Idaho v. United States is on the docket for Wednesday.

At issue is whether the ban violates the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which prohibits hospitals from denying patients medical care because of financial or insurance issues.

The Idaho law has restricted access to reproductive care. Rory Cole is a fourth-year medical student at the University of Washington who is from Idaho and plans to practice in the state.

"A lot of these patients that we've been seeing don't really have a choice anymore, in that sense of it's not about if they want to be pregnant or not," said Cole. "It's about saving their life or their health, and we can't help them in Idaho."

Other states will be watching Idaho's Supreme Court case, and it could have an outsize impact on rural states that ban abortion, leaving patients with few options for care.

Cole said the Idaho law puts doctors in a tough place.

"The wording is so vague in the legislation here, that it makes it just extraordinarily challenging for doctors to kind of know what is legal and what is not legal here now," said Cole, "which is a place that no physician wants to exist in."

Idaho has seen an exodus of medical providers. The state has lost 22% of its practicing obstetricians since its abortion ban took effect, according to a recent report.

"Ultimately," said Cole, "that place of needing to help the people in Idaho and the people here deserving wonderful care was what brought me to basically try and stay in Idaho for residency."




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Vending machines commonly found in workplace break rooms generally contain soft drinks or snacks but one machine in Indianapolis dispenses unconventional items at the turn of a knob.

The Plan B morning-after pill, pregnancy tests and condoms are displayed in a clear glass case inside a colorful blue and orange dispenser. The items provide easy access to protection against an unwanted pregnancy and are free of charge.

Melissa Gruver, organizing director of the feminist organization Indiana Task FORCE, said it operates like a traditional vending machine.

"You just push whenever you want and it falls down, and you reach your hand through the little door and you pull it out, take it with you," Gruver explained.

A 2022 Indiana Department of Health Termination Report indicated 9,600 pregnancies were aborted, with Marion County recording the highest number of unwanted pregnancies. The report also noted the average age of a woman in Indiana who sought an abortion was 27, and 67% of all terminated pregnancies occurred within four to eight weeks of conception.

The state's contentious near-total abortion ban, which was upheld by the Indiana Supreme Court last year, has stoked fears lawmakers may begin restricting a woman's choice of birth control.

Indiana Task FORCE and reproductive health groups All-Options and the Midwest Access Coalition want the emergency contraceptive vending machine to serve as a gathering spot for community conversations on reproductive rights and sexual health.

"We've long been organizing our communities to bring about reproductive justice, which we didn't have before and we definitely don't have it now," Gruver pointed out. "But what we know to be true is that there are more of us that want access to reproductive care than those that try to stop it. We're excited to continue to work to meet this need now, and to organize for a better community."

Gruver hopes to have one dispenser in every Indiana region in the future to add to the single machine currently in an eastside Indianapolis grocery store. She added some universities in the state already have vending machines offering similar contraception products but users have to purchase the items.

This story is based on original reporting by Mary Claire Molloy for Mirror Indy.


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