Right to an Abortion May Depend on Zip Code

The right to an abortion is a right protected by the United States constitution. The Supreme Court made that clear more than four decades ago when it ruled in Roe v. Wade that a woman's decision to seek the medical procedure falls within her right to privacy.
But to women living in Tennessee, that right may as well not exist.
This week governor Bill Haslam signed a bill that requires women to wait 48 hours before ending a pregnancy. Last week, he signed another bill that subjects clinics providing more than 50 surgical abortions annually to operate like hospital-style surgery centers. That is no small request; critics of the bill say such guidelines are medically unnecessary and would cost clinics millions of dollars.