In a legislative session dominated by the GOP supermajority’s conservative agenda, Tennessee lawmakers this spring took the unusual, bipartisan step of protecting certain reproductive rights.
Beginning July 1, Tennessee will become the first — and only — state in the South to have codified the right to access fertility treatments and birth control into state law.
Introduced by two Republican women and signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee, the legislation protects Tennesseans’ access to in vitro fertilization and a range of birth control methods — reproductive health options that have not, in modern times, been restricted in the state, but now have safeguards into the future.
Backers of the bill, among them progressive groups and conservative Republicans who have expanded their families through the use of IVF, called the legislation a needed win for preserving access to care.
“The law provides critical stability and peace of mind in an otherwise volatile political environment for women and families,” said Natalie Schilling of Awake Tennessee, which advocates for the rights of children and women.