Image Credit: Jennifer Hay / Knoxville Nobility & Special to The Tennessee Conservative
The Tennessee Conservative Staff –
Nearly three years after its building was burned down, the Knoxville Planned Parenthood office has reopened in a new facility.
CEO Ashley Coffield says the facility has had more than 100 patients come in since reopening just over a week ago.
According to Coffield, the office is not providing any abortion-related care, but they are offering other services such as “gender-affirming care,” contraception, STI testing and treatment, pregnancy testing, and ultrasounds.
Not everyone is convinced, however, that they will be following the letter of the law. Area pro-lifers suspect that Planned Parenthood may coordinate abortions through mail-order pills or transportation to states where abortion is legal.
Coffield did address a recent ruling from a panel of Tennessee judges that will allow doctors to perform abortions in emergency cases without penalty. She noted that the regulations surrounding those cases are extremely specific but also argued that they did not allow for all health risks to be mitigated.
The ruling allows for abortions if a pregnant woman has pre-viable, pre-term premature rupture of membranes, dilation of the cervix, or fatal fetal diagnoses. Abortions would also be permitted if a diagnosis would lead to uterine rupture or possible loss of fertility.
The Tennessee Right to Life released a statement last week, opposing the ruling.
“Tennessee lawmakers have worked diligently to ensure that unborn children are protected under the law while making sure that mothers can receive the care they need in emergency situations,” the statement read. “The law already allows doctors to use their reasonable medical judgement to treat the mother to the best of their ability in emergency situations, therefore, it is unnecessary for the Court to intervene in this case.”
