Here's Why a Tennessee Democrat Is Running for Office

Madeline Leesman | October 16, 2023 2:45 PM

This year, Townhall covered how many states passed laws protecting the unborn after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Among the measures passed, many were “heartbeat” laws that protect unborn life upon fetal heartbeat detection, while others banned abortions at 15 weeks.

Predictably, pro-abortion supporters have pushed back against these laws aimed at protecting unborn life. And now, one woman claims she is running for office because of it.

A woman running to represent her district in Tennessee’s House of Representatives announced that the reason behind her decision is because she was denied an abortion under a new state law, according to multiple reports.

Allie Phillips, 28, claimed that she was “forced” to travel out-of-state to obtain an abortion because her unborn child was diagnosed with a fatal condition at 19 weeks. Due to a pro-life law enacted in the wake of the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization decision, Phillips traveled to New York to end her unborn child’s life.

“I wanted nothing more than to raise a family here [in Tennessee],” Phillips said in a campaign video. “My husband and I found out we were expecting last year. At my routine anatomy scan, we found out Miley was not compatible with life. My doctor informed me that if I chose to stay pregnant, I would be putting my own life at risk. I had to make the hard decision to terminate my pregnancy and Tennessee law made it impossible to get it here…Because of the trauma Tennessee’s ban has caused me, I have been dedicating my time to try and change their barbaric law.”

“I was in a city I’ve never been in, far away from my family, friends, doctors, caregivers,” Phillips reportedly shared in a TikTok video. “I was in that clinic alone. I was told my daughter’s heart had stopped alone. I went into surgery and came out alone. Nobody, nobody should have to go through something like that alone.”

Reportedly, Phillips joined a lawsuit against abortion bans in Idaho, Tennessee, and Oklahoma, which claimed that “pregnant people” suffer “needless physical and emotional pain and harm” when they do not have access to abortion.