Advocates for rape survivors begin lobbying effort to add exceptions to Tennessee’s strict abortion ban

The Sexual Assault Center in Nashville is launching a campaign directed at Republican state lawmakers to allow abortion for rape and incest, even though they’ve shown almost no interest in exceptions to the law.

Abortion opponents often portray pregnancies occurring from rape or incest as rare. But survivors of sexual assault say there are plenty of examples to choose from. Lorraine McGuire, vice president of development, describes a husband dropping off his wife’s clothes at the SAC clinic to be used as potential evidence, while also worrying she may have to carry a rapist’s baby to term.

If the rape victim stories don’t connect, McGuire, who previously worked at End Slavery Tennessee, says human trafficking is a popular cause among Republicans.

“The human trafficking victim is where it tends to really pull on the heartstrings if they can’t connect the other way,” she says before a group of volunteers who gathered last week to help kickstart the lobbying effort, complete with choosing the most compelling hashtag.

They’ve started a Change.org petition, asking for “compassion and choice” for victims, outlining the need for rape and incest exceptions. They plan to send volunteers — with petition signatures in hand — to start working on skeptical lawmakers.

“They’re not excited to have a conversation about rape victims. We are going to have to force that conversation,” lobbyist Heather Meshell says.

There’s a temptation to tone down the language around sexual violence, she says. But she tells volunteers they will need to match anti-abortion activists who often speak graphically about violence to a fetus.

“We’re going to be civil in doing it. We’re going to work across the aisle and try to pull people together on this. But we will be having hard, difficult conversations with the real, ugly truth about it,” Meshell says.

Volunteers are already being warned to temper their expectations on winning a total exemption for rape and incest in the upcoming session. But their hope is to make some headway, because right now, the authors of Tennessee’s abortion ban say it’s written precisely as they intended.