Tennessee’s abortion ban — which includes no exceptions for child rape, incest or mental illness — takes effect Thursday, Aug. 25.

Criminal defense lawyers say there are effectively no exceptions to the Human Life Protection Act of 2019.

The law allows doctors to provide abortions if the life of the mother is in danger, but they will only be able to make that argument after being charged with the class C felony of criminal abortion.

How Tennessee DAs will find out about, and prosecute, abortions

Illinois is the closest state to Memphis with abortion access protected in state law. Choices - Memphis Center for Reproductive Health is setting up a clinic in Carbondale, about three hours north of Memphis, and there are clinics in the Illinois suburbs of St. Louis.

The trigger law was passed in 2019 but never took effect, with the Supreme Court precedent in Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey protecting abortion access nationwide.

Tennessee restricted the procedure as much as Roe and Casey allowed — states could ban abortions at viability — until a few days after the court overruled that precedent in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

The Dobbs decision ended the legal battle over an abortion ban slightly less strict than the one that takes effect Thursday. That law, which still prohibits the procedure before many know they’re pregnant, took effect a few days later, in late June.

Tennessee plagued by maternity-care deserts

The near-total ban supersedes that “heartbeat” law.

Health care providers, researchers and other experts contend the ban will increase pregnancy-related deaths. The United States has among the worst maternal and infant mortality rates among wealthy nations, and Tennessee’s rates are far above the national average.