When I visited her Clarksville home, Allie Phillips told me she never thought about running for office.
She wasn’t even that interested in politics.
That was before. Before Phillips, 29, was forced to travel out of state to terminate a nonviable pregnancy, due to Tennessee’s strict anti-abortion laws.
Phillips described the situation she was forced into as a “dehumanizing experience” to me – one that was both costly and traumatizing for her and her family.
Phillips decided to own her story after the death of Miley Rose
Phillips and her husband were hoping for an addition to their family of three when an ultrasound at week 19 discovered severe anomalies. The fetus in her womb which the family had already named Miley Rose had already died when the procedure was performed in New York days later in March 2023, leaving the mother at risk of life-threatening sepsis or blood clouts, Phillips recounts.
I think that for many women, having an abortion – for any reason – still comes with shame, or the trauma that comes with it makes them reluctant to share their experience.