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This Young Mom Is Running For Office After Being Denied A Medically-Necessary Abortion In Her State

"I’m running because I was denied the right to basic healthcare. I’m running because I don’t want any other family to experience the pain my family did."

Note: This post contains mentions of pregnancy loss.

In 2022, Tennessee woman Allie Phillips was excited to learn she was pregnant with her second daughter. Phillips had been raising her first daughter as a single mom for several years before meeting and marrying her now-husband, and they were thrilled to be having a child together. She'd even picked out a name: Miley Rose.

Allie Phillips on TikTok shares her experience of being denied a medically necessary abortion for a non-viable pregnancy
Allie Phillips / Via tiktok.com

Then, at a routine appointment 19 weeks into her pregnancy, Phillips and her husband learned that their unborn daughter had severe congenital defects that would make her incompatible with life. Her doctor warned that continuing the pregnancy could put Phillips' health at risk and that if she carried Miley Rose to term, the baby would most likely be either stillborn or die shortly after birth.

In a tearful TikTok video, Phillips shared the news with her followers, saying, "Unfortunately, we've made the decision to terminate my pregnancy."

But Phillips' home state of Tennessee began enforcing its trigger ban on abortions in 2022 shortly after the fall of Roe v. Wade, which meant she would have to travel out of state to receive this essential healthcare.

Tennessee has one of the strictest abortion laws in the country, only adding an allowance in 2023 for the procedure to be performed if doctors use their "reasonable medical judgment" in cases where the pregnancy could result in death or major injury to the pregnant person. The law also has no exemptions for cases of sexual assault or incest.