Tennesseans misunderstand abortion law, want exceptions
New Vanderbilt University polling has found that most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state’s sweeping abortion ban
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Most registered voters in Tennessee want exceptions for rape or incest in the state's sweeping abortion ban, but they largely don't know the specifics of what's in the law as it stands today, according to new Vanderbilt University polling.
The disconnect comes in a state that votes consistently for Republicans and has one of the strictest abortion bans in the country. Three out of four people polled think that abortion should be legal if the pregnancy results from rape or incest, an exception that doesn't exist in current law. But fewer than 1 in 5 were able to pick which of the statements Vanderbilt provided that most closely described the current abortion law's requirements, according to Vanderbilt pollsters.
Asked about six descriptions, 36% of respondents said they did not know enough to say what the law entails, while 23% chose the option “illegal except in the case of rape, incest, or to save the life of the mother.”
Tennessee's ban doesn't have an explicit exemption for the mother's life. Instead, it shifts the burden to the doctor to make a case in criminal court, if charged with a felony under the law, that an abortion was needed to save the mother’s life or spare her from irreversible, severe impairment.
