#StandWithAnnaYocca

[sisterreach]

TENNESSEE HAS TURNED BACK THE CLOCK ON ABORTION!

 In September, Anna Yocca was arrested for attempted murder after trying to perform an abortion with a coat hanger. Tennessee abortion laws are forcing women to take abortion healthcare into their own hands. We cannot go back to the same dangerous behaviors that were present BEFORE abortion was legalized by Roe Vs Wade.  At SisterReach, we trust women to make the best decisions for themselves, their families and communities.  We believe the arrest of Ms. Yocca sets a dangerous precedent for women everywhere! Join us in demanding her release today!

TAKE ACTION!!

CALL

District Attorney: (615) 898-8008

Contact Rutherford County Jail: (615) 898-7774

SAY

Hello, my name is ____ and I believe that if Tennessee did not have such restrictive abortion laws, Ms. Yocca would not have had to resort to such dangerous measures. We want the charges against Anna Yocca dropped and her IMMEDIATE release!

Follow us on Twitter, Like us on Facebook! @sisterreach Check out our website: www.sisterreach.org

#NoMoreHangers  #StandWithAnnaYocca #FreeAnnaYocca #AnnaYocca

[sisterreach]

Anna Yocca and the Need for Safe Abortions

December 14, 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

SisterReach Warns TN Legislature that More Acts of Desperation by Tennessee Women in Need of Safe Abortions Will End with Coat Hangers

MEMPHIS, TN, DECEMBER 14, 2015:  Statement by Cherisse A. Scott, founder and CEO of SisterReach, a Reproductive Justice organization based in Memphis, TN:

“Our greatest fear has come to past, and it could have been avoided,” says Cherisse A. Scott, founder and CEO of SisterReach, based in Memphis, TN. “Women are attempting to self-abort due to restrictive abortion and punitive fetal assault legislation.

We extend our deepest sympathies to Anna Yocca and her partner for not having the resources they needed and in a timely fashion to access a safe abortion and without having to resort to the dangerous and often deadly alternative of using a coat hanger. These acts of desperation will happen more frequently unless the Tennessee Legislature reconsiders its posture about both current and potential anti-abortion legislation and the fetal assault law which allows a penalty of up to 15 years in prison for fetal harm. We have also read the comments made by Sargent Kyle Evans accusing Ms. Yocca of thinking only of herself instead of her unborn child. We find those comments egregious and unprofessional as no one but the parents of the child could know the circumstances which led to such an act of desperation.

We strongly urge the Tennessee legislature to reconsider its position on anti-abortion and fetal assault law legislation. We recommend that lawmakers expand Medicaid so that women have access to reproductive health care needed to thwart unwanted and unplanned pregnancies. We recommend that that the fetal assault law be allowed to sunset and resources for the punitive measure be re-routed to mental and behavioral health facility expansion across Tennessee and we recommend that comprehensive reproductive and sexual health education be made available not only to Tennessee youth, but adults as well.

The Tennessee legislature is responsible for the coat hanger, however, Ms. Yocca is on trial and that is unacceptable.”

Cherisse Scott is available for interview upon request

SisterReach is a 501c3 grassroots organization which educates and advocates for women and girls of color, poor women and rural women through the human rights framework of Reproductive Justice. SisterReach works to empower women to be advocates for themselves, lead healthy lives, have healthy families and in safe and sustainable communities.