Roe, Roe, Roe Your Vote

For millions of women, the 2024 election isn't just about picking a president; it's about defining the kind of country America will be

- Ruchira Gupta

I’M in Tennessee, in the midst of my journey across America as the country plunges into the fevered pitch of election season. From New Hampshire’s sun-baked town halls to Pennsylvania’s packed high school gyms and here in the quiet suburbs of Tennessee, there’s been one constant undercurrent—the fierce determination of young women.

Whether in swing states like Arizona or deeply conservative ones like Georgia, young women are speaking up, mobilising and preparing to make their voices heard on what may be the defining issue of the 2024 presidential election—reproductive rights.

I’m standing outside the Carafem clinic in Mount Juliet, Tennessee, located in the unassuming Providence Pavilion. This clinic was once central to reproductive healthcare in the Nashville area, but it also found itself at the centre of the fight over abortion rights. In 2021, the clinic was targeted by anti-abortion protesters who staged a blockade, hoping to prevent women from accessing care. The protesters live-streamed their efforts, and the scene outside was tense, with patients trying to enter the clinic as protesters chanted slogans and police maintained order.

Back then, abortion was still legal in Tennessee, but now the landscape has completely shifted. In August 2022, after the Supreme Court’s Dobbs v. Jackson decision led to Tennessee’s total ban on abortion, Carafem had to halt all in-person abortion services. The clinic remains open for telehealth and other healthcare services, but the absence of in-person abortion care is deeply felt here.