Women in red state where abortion is now banned..waking up. Is it too late?

[Demovictory9]

Abortion wasn’t on the ballot in Tennessee, but it was on the minds of voters
BLAKE FARMER AUGUST 5, 2022

https://wpln.org/post/abortion-wasnt-on-the-ballot-in-tennessee-but-it-was-on-the-minds-of-voters/



After waiting in line for more than an hour, Jacqueline Smith voted at a recreation center in Spring Hill with one thing on her mind — Tennessee’s fleeting abortion access.

Smith wants to unseat Gov. Bill Lee, who pushed through the state’s abortion ban kicking in later this month.

“In every single reason I vote, that is behind it. I will never vote for someone — Democrat, Independent or Republican — who tells me I don’t have a right to govern my own body. Even if everyone around me disagrees,” she says, noting how Republicans tend to dominate politics in Williamson County.

Smith says she was surprised how many people in line asked for a Democrat ballot, like she did. They included Cathy Matheny, who voted just ahead of Smith, while wearing a black tank top with the word “vote” overlaid on images from “The Handmaid’s Tale.”

“You just hide in the wings and come vote,” Matheny says.

Farther south in Maury County, 19-year-old Hannah Boaz cast her first vote, largely off recommendations from her family members. But that complicated voting for Republicans, since most running for office don’t express support for abortion at any stage of pregnancy.

“I, personally, don’t like [abortion]. But I do believe that there are certain situations that I think it should be available,” Boaz says.

Boaz says she feels like there’s not much she can do at this point. Abortion is going to be criminalized with almost no exceptions, and the state legislature does not appear eager to scale back the law.

[walkingman]

1. It's never too late - VOTE and encourage like-minded people to VOTE.

[Wounded Bear]

3. It's never too late...until it is...

every election of the last few years has increasingly been "the most important of our lifetimes," and it's not just rhetoric. Repubs are on the attack against voting rights and processes.

A more accurate statement would be "It's not too late, yet. VOTE!"

[Farmer-Rick]

2. Yeah, I voted yesterday in the primaries and local general in TN

Not many Democrats on the ballot.

So I voted against Republicans. If no Dem, and an independent was running, they got my vote. If there was a republican judge, you got to vote to keep him/her or change them out. I voted to change out every single Republican judge, which was most of them.

If there were only Republicans running, I didn't vote in that race. I figured no vote was better than a lesser of 2 evil Republicans.

I will not give Republicans my vote, even if they are the only ones running.

[MagickMuffin]

7. That's what I do as well

Usually there isn't many Democratic Judges on the ballot for me to vote for. So, I don't vote for anyone.

I have never mark a ballot that has a R by their name.

[Farmer-Rick]

8. Absolutely,

There was a time where I would have voted for an R if I knew them and liked them and they were the only ones on the ballot. But that was 22 years ago. Not anymore.

[PlanetBev]

4. Hell, no....

The fight is just beginning!

[Hermit-The-Prog]

5. Battle cry of the election: Roe your vote!

Roe, Roe, Roe your vote
against theocracy!
Republicans revoke your rights
and kill democracy!

[gratuitous]

6. I'm not usually one to advocate for single issue voting

But fighting against the institution of second class citizens by the Supreme Court is one bright line exception. You think the government should make a person's health care and reproductive decisions? You're not getting my vote.