AP: Lawyer’s Mission: Translate Tenn.’s bewildering abortion ban
UC’s Danielle Bessett speaks to national media on abortion care research
The state of Tennessee now has the most restrictive abortion bans in the country. The law is written as such that a physician might have to defend themselves for providing an abortion, regardless of medical necessity, according to an AP article that profiles Tennessee attorney Chloe Akers.
Akers quit her job at a law firm and started a nonprofit she named "Standing Together Tennessee" to help providers interpret the state’s abortion law language and navigate patient/provider decisions so that they won’t land in jail.
Supporters of the abortion ban tell the AP that it’s not likely anyone would be prosecuted for doing what is medically necessary.
“That no one was prosecuted because of them does not reflect the true toll they have taken on doctors, said Danielle Bessett, an associate professor of sociology and faculty affiliate of both UC’s Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies and the Medical Scientist Training
Bessett, who co-leads OPEN, the Ohio Policy Evaluation Network, which conducts rigorous, interdisciplinary research to assess the reproductive health and well-being of Ohioans in the context of federal and state laws, regulations, and policies, told the AP that they held focus groups with 35 Ohio physicians working in hospitals and private practice, not abortion clinics, and found that doctors reported feeling “demonized, confused, powerless” under new restrictions.
Featured image at top courtesy of Unsplash
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
The future, decoded. UC scholars reveal what’s next
May 20, 2026
The University of Cincinnati’s NEXT Innovation Scholars presented Gen Z-fueled insights on possible future trends at the Futures Forum 2026. Here’s what they see ahead.
6 ways starting a GLP-1 medication could affect your emotions
May 20, 2026
When patients first start taking a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) medication, they probably expect to feel full. But they might not anticipate how it can influence their emotions. The medications act on the stomach and the brain, said Malti Vij, MD, a University of Cincinnati adjunct associate professor in the College of Medicine's Department of Internal Medicine and a diplomate of the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
UC researchers recruit older adults for extreme heat health study
May 20, 2026
The University of Cincinnati’s Center for Collaboration on Climate & Community for Health (C4H) is recruiting older adults to participate in a study tracking their health during periods of extreme summer heat.