TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Julia Wilburn on Apr 6, 2023

A bill to add exceptions to Tennessee’s strict abortion ban has passed the state Senate. It now goes to Gov. Bill Lee’s desk for his signature or veto. The Tennessean reports that it's unlikely he will veto the bill, which would allow doctors to legally perform abortions to save the life of a pregnant patient. The legislation, Senate Bill 745 as amended, explicitly exempts ectopic and molar pregnancies from Tennessee's abortion ban, in addition to allowing doctors to perform abortions if in their "reasonable" medical judgment an abortion would prevent the death or "to prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function of the pregnant woman."