A By-product of Christian Nationalism

Toward theocracy in Tennessee

Andy Spears
2 min readJul 1, 2024
Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

My writing last week focused on a disturbing rise in Christian Nationalism — from restricting reproductive health to establishing a clear preference for a particular interpretation of one religion.

In Tennessee post-Dobbs, it is nearly impossible to get an abortion. Doctors who perform the procedure are guilty of a felony, and the burden is on the doctor to prove the procedure was necessary (life-saving) in order to avoid further prosecution.

Here’s what that means: You perform an abortion and are charged, then must submit evidence in your defense to establish that the abortion you performed wasn’t the felony kind.

Of course, if a judge or jury doesn’t agree, prosecution proceeds — and you can face jail time.

The result: Doctors aren’t performing critical reproductive health procedures and women in need of this healthcare are forced to travel to other states.

Over at The Education Report, I wrote about Louisiana’s requirement for schools to

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Andy Spears

Writer and policy advocate living in Nashville, TN —Public Policy Ph.D. — writes on education policy, consumer affairs, and more . . .