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Here’s where Nashville’s DA candidates say they would stand on prosecution if abortion becomes illegal in Tennessee

Davidson County district attorney candidates (left to right) P. Danielle Nellis, Sara Beth Myers and incumbent Glenn Funk
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If Roe v. Wade is overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court, abortion could become illegal in Tennessee. On Election Day in Nashville, the candidates for Davidson County’s District Attorney’s office weighed in on how they would approach prosecuting the medical providers who perform them.

Under a 2019 state law, Tennessee would outlaw nearly all abortions, with few exceptions if Roe is overturned. While the person receiving an illegal abortion wouldn’t be subject to prosecution, healthcare providers performing the procedures — including prescribing medication — could be charged with a Class C felony, including prison time and a fine of up to $10,000.

Shortly after a draft opinion overturning Roe was leaked, incumbent District Attorney Glenn Funk resuscitated an old statement from 2020, stating that he would not use criminal law “to exercise control over a woman’s body” or to punish medical providers.

“I will not prosecute any woman who chooses to have a medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy or any medical doctor who performs this procedure at the request of their patient,” Funk vowed.

Funk said he stands by his previous statement.

While candidates P. Danielle Nellis and Sara Beth Myers say they support a woman’s right to abortion, neither issued a blanket refusal to prosecute medical providers the way Funk did.

“I stand with women and our right to exercise autonomy over our own bodies,” P. Danielle Nellis wrote in a statement.

Nellis’ statement didn’t get into specifics, but Myers expounded on the legal argument.

“There is a right to privacy in the constitution that protects the right to an abortion,” Myers wrote, “and as district attorney I will never use the law to violate someone’s civil rights.”

She added that Funk has “put the right to abortion into deeper jeopardy in our city,” referencing legislation introduced last year to curb the power of local DAs. That legislation came on the heels of Funk and other DAs issuing blanket refusals to prosecute certain cases, like marijuana possession.

The law allows the Tennessee attorney general to request a special prosecutor to handle those cases, which could include abortion moving forward. 

Paige Pfleger, Criminal Justice Reporter

Paige Pfleger covers criminal justice for WPLN News. She has investigated guns and juvenile justice as a fellow with ProPublica's Local Reporting Network, and her investigation into domestic violence and firearms dispossession won a regional Edward R. Murrow award and was a finalist for an Investigative Reporters and Editors Award and a Livingston Award. She previously covered criminal justice and addiction in Ohio and was named the state's reporter of the year by the Associated Press. Her work has appeared nationally on NPR, The Washington Post, Marketplace, and PRI's The World, and she has worked in the newsrooms of The Tennessean, Michigan Radio, WHYY, Vox and NPR headquarters in DC.

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