FACT CHECK: Did Tennessee Ban Plan B?

A post shared on Facebook claims the state of Tennessee has imposed a ban on Plan B, an emergency contraceptive.

Verdict: False

Tennessee has banned the use of mail-in abortion medication, not Plan B.

Fact Check:

A leaked Supreme Court draft opinion suggests the court intends to overturn Roe v. Wade, a 1973 ruling that granted federal protection to abortion, according to Politico.

The Facebook post alleges that Tennessee has now banned Plan B. “tennessee banned plan b’s we can’t never have nice sht (sic) here,” the post reads. The claim can also be found on Twitter, with one viral tweet reading “Tennessee just banned Plan B and made it a crime punishable by a $50,000 fine to order it.”

There is no evidence to suggest Tennessee has banned the emergency contraceptive. Check Your Fact found no bill mentioning such a ban on the state legislature’s website. There are likewise no reports about the alleged ban from local news outlets like the Tennessean, The Moore County News and the Herald-Citizen. 

The claim appears to stem from confusion about a law signed May 6 by Republican Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee that criminalizes mail-in abortion medicine, according to CNN. However, Plan B is not the same as mail-in abortion medicine, which typically takes the form of the abortion pill.

“The morning-after pill, also known as emergency contraception, helps prevent pregnancy; the abortion pill, also known as medication abortion, ends pregnancy,” explains Planned Parenthood. The bill signed by Lee does not mention anything about Plan B or emergency contraceptives. (RELATED: Have There Been 60 Million Abortions Since Roe V. Wade?)

Check Your Fact has reached out to Lee’s office and the Tennessee Department of Health for comment and will update this piece if a response is received.

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