Image Credit: Tennessee Attorney General / Facebook & Canva.
Article by Olivia Lupia, Tennessee Conservative News –
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti has demanded numerous sets of documents from Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi and Abortion Care Tennessee, stating his office has reason to believe the organizations have engaged in or will engage in multiple violations of state law regarding abortion access and “gender-affirming care” for minors.
While clinical abortions have been outlawed in Tennessee since 2022, Skrmetti’s investigation appears to center on state laws prohibiting the prescription or delivery of abortifacients by mail and barring gender-affirming care for minors.
Both Planned Parenthood and Abortion Care Tennessee offer information, financial assistance, and referrals to pregnant women seeking abortions outside the state, but if any of that assistance facilitated the procurement of abortion pills via telehealth or mail by a Tennessee physician, it could constitute a violation of Tennessee’s tele-med abortion ban among other state laws.
Citing potential violations of state laws, the Consumer Protection Act, the Medicaid False Claims Act, and the Tennessee Nonprofit Corporations Act in the Sept. 3 letter, Skrmetti’s office requested from the organizations all documents, emails, and communications connected to “any person you assisted, helped, or are otherwise aware of” who obtained abortion pills in the mail or via telemedicine.
The AG requested the same on 15 other topics beginning February 2022 to present, including “Any Mail-Order Abortion Pill Provider” and “events you sponsored, hosted, or otherwise were involved with in any way relating to Abortion Pills.”
Additionally, the AG asked for medical records and files for any minors whom the organizations “provided, administered or offered to provide or administer any cross-sex hormones (including testosterone or estrogen), puberty blockers or related drugs or treatments after July 1, 2023,” the date when Tennessee implemented its ban on gender-affirming care for minors.
Last week, Abortion Care Tennessee and Planned Parenthood filed legal challenges to Skrmetti’s demand letter, primarily claiming First Amendment violations and patient privacy rights.
Both Planned Parenthood and Abortion Care Tennessee contend they do not provide abortions or sell abortifacients and that courts have determined speech informing people how to obtain a legal abortion is protected under the First Amendment. And in July 2025, a 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judge ruled that people who obtain abortion pills “during a telehealth visit with an out-of-state doctor could lawfully take them.”
The organizations also said that the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act only governs trade and commerce, making it unapplicable to them as neither group engages in commerce, and Planned Parenthood asserted it has never offered gender-affirming care to minors.
Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi CEO Ashley Coffield called the investigation “deeply disturbing” in a statement and accused Skrmetti of “targeting Tennesseans across the state for seeking or getting essential healthcare services.”
“This is an obvious effort to further a political agenda to ban abortion, intimidate patients and providers, and shut down Planned Parenthood health centers, while violating the privacy of patients who have sought sexual and reproductive healthcare. In the face of yet another politically motivated attack, our priority remains ensuring the health, safety, and confidentiality of our patients,” Coffield said.
The legal petitions from the pro-abortion groups are asking the Davidson County Chancery Court to issue a protective order that completely sets aside the AG’s demands or greatly modifies them.
“Its demand that [Planned Parenthood] disclose its patients’ private health information contravenes [its] legal duties, basic medical ethics, and the privacy rights of patients. The court should set it aside,” the petition argues.
But Skrmetti’s office is asserting its “authority to request information when there may be a violation of state law that we enforce, and we routinely do so. A request for information lets us gather facts to determine whether further steps are necessary.”
A ruling has not yet been made on the protective order, but it does not appear the AG’s office will be backing off on its investigation.
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About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
2 Responses
If STARBUCK’S is not only encouraged and allowed to move it’s headquarters here, while receiving tax incentives at the taxpayers’ expense, then you had better investigate them. Starbuck’s is very pro-baby murder, funding out of state travel and procedures for the murders, while encouraging their employees to donate with a match from their paychecks to accomplish said travel and procedures. Starbuck’s, a satanic-run business is strategically making this move for abortion (to a state where abortion is outlawed) and I am not hearing anything about it outside the article you posted (thank you).
GITT’UM Skrmetti!!