Sanctity of Life
Protecting Tennessee Women: Dan Pohlgeers, Amendment 1, and the Unfinished Work of Pro-Life Policy
Dan Pohlgeers has been a pro-life advocate in Upper East Tennessee long before he decided to run for office. Here is his record — and the work that still needs to be done.
6
Counties Organized
Upper East Tennessee for Yes on One, 2013-2014
52.6%
Amendment 1 Passed
Statewide — over 60% in the 1st Congressional District
5,870
TN Abortions in 2024
Up from 1,820 in 2023 — driven by online abortion pills
Dan Pohlgeers and the Fight for Amendment 1
Long before he decided to run for Tennessee Senate District 3, Dan Pohlgeers was doing the ground-level work of the pro-life movement in Upper East Tennessee. In 2013, Dan and his wife made the decision to become area coordinators for Washington County in the Yes on One campaign — the effort to pass Amendment 1 to the Tennessee Constitution on the November 2014 ballot.
Their work made an impact quickly. Within just a few months, the success they were having in Washington County led campaign leadership to ask them to expand their operation. By the time the campaign was over, Dan and his wife were covering six counties across Upper East Tennessee for Yes on One.
Amendment 1 passed statewide with 52.6 percent of the vote and garnered over 60 percent in the 1st Congressional District. It restored to the Tennessee General Assembly the authority to legislate on abortion just as it does on any other matter of public health and safety.
When the Supreme Court's 2022 Dobbs decision returned abortion policy to the states, Tennessee's existing trigger ban took effect, making abortion illegal at all stages of pregnancy with limited medical emergency exceptions. The foundation that made that possible was laid in part by people like Dan Pohlgeers — willing to knock on doors and make the case county by county, conversation by conversation.
Online Abortion Pills Are Reaching Tennessee Women
While abortion is now illegal in Tennessee, a serious and growing threat to women's health has emerged since Dobbs. Abortion pills — mifepristone and misoprostol — are being ordered online by Tennessee women through out-of-state telehealth services, shipped through the mail, and taken at home with no in-person medical supervision.
Because of so-called shield laws in certain states, out-of-state providers can ship these drugs into Tennessee through a legal gray zone — bypassing the state's abortion ban. Tennessee women are terminating pregnancies alone, at home, without a physician examination, without an ultrasound to confirm viability or rule out an ectopic pregnancy, and without any guaranteed follow-up care.
Abortion numbers in Tennessee have been rising sharply in the post-Dobbs era: 1,820 abortions in 2023 → 5,870 in 2024
This is not a hypothetical or future concern. It is happening right now, and the women involved face real and documented medical dangers.
Get InvolvedWomen Are Being Told to Lie to Their Doctors
The most alarming aspect of the online abortion pill phenomenon is not only the risk posed by the drugs themselves, but the active campaign of deception being promoted by abortion advocates toward women who experience complications. Women who suffer serious side effects are being specifically advised to hide the truth from the medical personnel treating them.
"You are now having a miscarriage; everyone at the ER should treat you accordingly, so avoid mentioning abortion, and the pills, entirely."
"There would be no way for them to tell if you took abortion pills vs had a spontaneous miscarriage."
This is not responsible medical guidance.
It is a coordinated strategy of concealment that puts women in greater danger at the very moment they need honest and complete medical care.
Concealment Leads to Worse Outcomes
The medical consequences of withholding abortion pill information from emergency personnel are well-established in peer-reviewed research. A study analyzing 423,000 confirmed abortions found that when abortion pill complications are miscoded as a natural miscarriage, women face dramatically worse outcomes.
6
More likely to require surgery for retained products of conception when miscoded
78%
Higher hospital readmission rate when complications are not correctly identified
11%
Of women who take mifepristone require ER or urgent care for a medical emergency
22x
Higher ER rate than what the FDA lists on the mifepristone label
The abortion pill impairs the immune system, raising the risk of infection including an unusual form of sepsis. It also increases the risk of hemorrhage. Treating an abortion pill complication as a spontaneous miscarriage can result in incomplete treatment, making outcomes dramatically worse.
Tennessee women deserve to know these numbers before making any decision, and they deserve medical professionals who have the full picture when treating them.
What Dan Pohlgeers Believes Must Happen Next
Dan Pohlgeers helped pass Amendment 1 because he believed Tennessee women and children deserved better than what the abortion industry was offering. That same conviction drives his candidacy for Senate District 3 today.The Tennessee General Assembly now has the constitutional authority — restored by Amendment 1 — to act on these emerging threats. That means pursuing clear legal accountability for out-of-state telehealth providers shipping abortion drugs into Tennessee. It means ensuring women who experience medical emergencies receive complete and honest care. And it means continuing to support the pro-life pregnancy resource centers across Northeast Tennessee that provide free medical services, honest counseling, and real support to women in crisis pregnancies.
Amendment 1 was a beginning, not a finish line. Dan Pohlgeers was part of making that beginning possible in Upper East Tennessee, and he intends to carry that work forward in the Tennessee Senate.
Dan Pohlgeers is a Republican candidate for Tennessee Senate District 3, representing Carter, Johnson, and Washington Counties. To learn more about Dan and his campaign, explore this website or contact the campaign directly.
Stay Connected
Join the Movement.
This campaign is built on grassroots support from families across Carter, Johnson, and Washington Counties. Your involvement makes a difference — whether you have five minutes or five hours to give.
We do our best to respond to all messages within two business days.