A federal judge has ordered anti-abortion protesters to stay away from the only abortion clinic still operating in Middle Tennessee. Abortions are only allowed up to six weeks gestation, but not for long.
The request for the restraining order included affidavits from several people who work at the carafem clinic. Protesters blocked the entrance in Mt. Juliet last week, and court documents say some threatened to storm the building, suggesting the clinic was violating the state’s six-week abortion ban.
“Either they gonna let us in or we take this whole building down. It’s up to them,” court documents quote protester Bevelyn Williams, who spoke to security through the video intercom. “We are trying to see if they let us into the office into carafem. But if not, we are just going to terrorize this whole building.”
On several days, as many as 150 people were protesting outside the clinic, which is run by national nonprofit carafem. Security locked down the building several times for fear of a violent invasion. Mt. Juliet police were already on the scene and had to help de-escalate the confrontation.
Federal judge Waverly Crenshaw found enough evidence to grant a restraining order through the end of this week, requiring leaders of the group Operation Save America to keep off the carafem property.
The anti-abortion group’s director, Jason Storms of Wisconsin, tells WPLN News that they had no plans to keep up the protests. They just happened to be holding a conference in town last week. Last week, four people were also arrested for trespassing at the Planned Parenthood clinic in Nashville, which is no longer performing abortions.
“Our conference is over, and many of our people have gone back to their homes,” Storms says. “It’s kind of humorous that they would go to such lengths to get a restraining order.”
Judge Crenshaw has scheduled a hearing on whether to extend the restraining order for Friday morning. While the immediate protests may stop, Storms says more “activities” are planned for after Aug. 25, when Tennessee’s full abortion ban triggered by the overturning of Roe v. Wade takes effect.
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