Tennessee
Women with serious pregnancy complications sue over state abortion bans
Women and physicians in Idaho and Tennessee have sued their home states after they say they were denied abortion care despite being diagnosed with serious, life-threatening medical conditions while pregnant. The lawsuits are led by the Center for Reproductive Rights, an advocacy organization based in Washington, D.C., which also helped a patient in Oklahoma file […]
Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: A fine southern tradition that ought to be universal
I’ve spent a lot of years explaining the mind and heart of the South to newcomers. In the not-so-distant past, I was a speaker for hire at rubber chicken luncheons throughout the Carolinas on this very subject. Usually, the audience was made up of 95 percent transplanted retirees from the North and Midwest. The remaining […]
Harm of anti-LGBTQ laws includes economic pain for communities, families
Roberto Che Espinoza had been thinking about leaving Tennessee after the 2024 election, but in June they noticed that the state attorney general was seeking medical records on gender-affirming medical care, which Espinoza, a nonbinary transgender man, said included their own records. “Being on any kind of list … I knew after the release of […]
‘Tennessee three’ praised by Biden in White House meeting
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden on Monday met with three Tennessee state Democratic lawmakers, two of whom were expelled by the Republican-controlled state House after they protested for gun safety measures following a mass school shooting. Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris met with Tennessee state Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville, Justin Pearson of Memphis […]
With expulsion of Tennessee Black lawmakers, Republicans lost GenZ. Here’s how
Following a school shooting in Nashville last month, hundreds of protesters gathered in the Tennessee capital demanding lawmakers act to address the out of control gun violence that once again unnecessarily took innocent lives. In response, the Tennessee’s Republican-controlled state House took the historic and extraordinary action of expelling two Black Democratic lawmakers for joining […]
A grim theory on how we get gun safety laws
Nashville-based writers already have written movingly about the tragic gun crime at Covenant School, yet another school shooting — this one took the lives of three children and three adults. Let me add this perspective from only a modest distance away, my adopted home of Knoxville is less than a 3-hour drive east of Nashville. […]
Weekend humor from Celia Rivenbark: A little history lesson (and common sense) on drag shows
A friend recently gave me an illustrated history of the small town I grew up in—Wallace, N.C.— and I still can’t believe what I saw while thumbing through the pages. Drag queens. Tons of ‘em! And guess what else…They were, in many cases, the dads of the friends I grew up with! There was the […]
Bristol, Virginia city council moves to ban new abortion clinics
Elected leaders in Bristol, Virginia are pushing forward a zoning law that would prohibit new abortion clinics within city limits, part of a local backlash against a Tennessee clinic that made the short move across state lines once Roe v. Wade was overturned. The five-member Bristol Virginia City Council on Tuesday unanimously voted in favor […]
Amid uncertainty and anger, Tennessee’s abortion ban takes effect
North Carolina’s neighbor to the west joins a growing list of states Tennessee on Thursday became the latest state in the nation to ban abortion, implementing a strict new law with no exceptions for rape, incest or fatal fetal anomalies while subjecting doctors who choose to perform lifesaving abortions to the risk of criminal prosecution. […]
In Tennessee, near-total ban on abortion to take effect within weeks
Public health crisis looms as women from North Carolina’s neighbor to the west will soon be forced to travel out of state for reproductive healthcare The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision ending the constitutional right to abortion in the United States set into motion an immediate chain reaction in Tennessee on Friday with one now-inevitable outcome: […]
White House hails electric vehicle charging station builder for opening Tennessee plant
Australian electric vehicle charging station manufacturer Tritium will open its first U.S. plant in Lebanon, Tenn., CEO Jane Hunter said during a White House event Tuesday. The factory would be the company’s largest worldwide, and is expected to begin production in the fall, Hunter said, crediting President Joe Biden’s policies with creating the demand that […]
Chalkbeat: A Q&A with the new academic chief in Tennessee’s charter takeover program
We’ve reported extensively at Policy Watch on the wind-up to North Carolina’s controversial charter takeover program, the Innovative School District. Now, Chalkbeat is offering a Q&A with the new academic chief for Tennessee’s own program, which was used, at least partially, as a model for North Carolina’s fledgling district. North Carolina officials will choose from […]