To view the recording of this program, click here.  Note that technical problems truncated a bit of the recording.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge welcomes the community to a zoom adaptation of Lunch with the League on Tuesday, November 1, 2022, starting at 12:00 PM ET/11:00 AM CT.  Also welcoming you will be the AAUW of Oak Ridge; Tennessee Health Care Campaign; and Women’s Interfaith of Oak Ridge.

Those who desire to gain access to the forum may do so by following the zoom link at the close of this article.

The Impact of Overturning Roe v Wade on the People of Tennessee

The over-turn of Roe v Wade destroyed 50 years of legal precedents - and along with the trigger ban law of the state of Tennessee - placed the health, lives, livelihood, and families of Tennessee women in serious jeopardy.  The physicians and health care providers who have met the needs of these women for decades could now face felony charges. No exceptions are allowed under the law.

The League of Women Voters has studied reproductive health care extensively prior to Roe v Wade and has engaged with all “significant abortion-related lawsuits and federal legislation since Roe. The League believes that all people should have access to a basic level of quality healthcare at an affordable cost, including abortion, and that public policy must affirm the constitutional right of privacy of the individual to make reproductive choices”.

To continue the conversation on the overturning of Roe v Wade and the trigger ban in Tennessee, the League has invited five very distinguished women who are experts in this field.

Dr. Carole Myers - Moderator. Professor of College of Nursing at UTK. Dr. Myers teaches graduate level health policy and health services courses. She is also the creator and co-host of Health Connections on WUOT-FM. She is a Fellow of several professional organizations and an avid writer/speaker of health.

Chloe Akers, JD - Panelist. Ms. Akers has served as criminal defense attorney in both the public and private sector.  She is Founder and current chair of the Board of Directors for Standing Together Tennessee - a nonprofit legal resource center which was established in response to Tennessee’s trigger ban on abortion.

London Lamar - Panelist. Sen. Lamar is a Tenn. state senator from the 33rd senate district (Shelby County). Her platform includes healthy families -  particularly providing women of color with quality reproductive health services.

Corinne Rovetti - Panelist. Ms. Rovetti is a certified Family Nurse Practitioner and practiced at the Knoxville Center for Reproductive Health. The center is now closed and does not offer any reproductive health services to women in need.

Dr. Nikki Zite, MD - Panelist. Dr. Zite is a UTK professor in the Department of OB/GYN and Vice Chair of Education and Advocacy. She specializes in complex family planning. She, among other physicians and health care providers, is particularly concerned about the no exceptions aspect of the law that is devastating the quality of care for pregnant women and places felony charges on doctors who provide that care.

We welcome all members of the League and the community to this informative forum. For linking to the meeting, please use the zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84258578548;  or you may email maryannreeves1 [at] att.net for more information. 

The forum will also appear on the League’s website at (https://my.lwv.org/tennessee/oak-ridge) a few days after the forum.

The League of Women Voters of Oak Ridge is a nonpartisan political organization for men and women. It encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy.