#Allie #forced #flee #abortion #politician
Shared it all on Tiktok: “Fighting for my daughter”
Published 2024-05-04 17.54
share-arrowDela
unsaveSpara
expand-left
full screen Allie with husband Bryan. Photo: Nora Savosnick
CLARKESVILLE, TENNESSEE. Allie Phillips, 29, never intended to become a politician.
Her escape from her home state’s strict abortion ban changed everything.
– They have awakened a beast.
- Allie Phillips, a 29-year-old woman from Clarkesville, Tennessee, who shared her abortion journey on Tiktok, is running for office to challenge her home state’s strict abortion laws.
- After being diagnosed that her unborn child would not survive, Allie had to travel to New York to have an abortion. She shared this traumatic experience with her Tiktok followers.
- Now, she is running for the seat of representative for District 75 in Tennessee, to challenge the existing abortion laws and make sure that no other woman has to go through what she did.
ⓘ The summary is made with the support of AI tools from OpenAI and quality assured by Aftonbladet. Read our AI policy here.
Show more
chevron-down
Allie Phillips pulls back the curtains and lets in the light. She crawls onto the couch and kicks off her shoes.
– I still feel traumatized, she says. It’s not something you just forget and move on from. I don’t know if it will get easier.
Everything started in autumn 2022.
She and husband Bryan ticked off all sorts of milestones that year: married, bought a house—and tried to have a baby.
Allie revealed the pregnancy on Tiktok. Miley Cyrus’ hit Flowers went on repeat at home, giving inspiration for what to call the girl:
Miley Rose.
Allie had managed to build a loyal following on the social platform during the pandemic, by posting paint videos and clips of her and five-year-old daughter Adalie dancing on the sofa to Taylor Swift.
Now the followers would get to join the pregnancy journey.
expand-left
full screen”It’s not something you just forget and move on from”. Photo: Nora Savosnick
Had stopped growing
In February 2023, Allie went for a routine ultrasound at 19 weeks pregnant. By her side was Bryan – and Adalie, who was eager to see her little sister.
But after being referred to a specialist, she was told:
Miley had stopped growing. Several organs did not develop as they should. The heart was beating, but only had two of four chambers. The brain had not split in two.
Only three percent survive such a diagnosis.
Allie remembers how grief thundered through her chest.
– My heart was beating so loudly that I could hear it in my ears. It felt like the blood was leaving my body, and I was completely speechless.
She got two choices.
Either give birth to Miley. In that case, the girl would not live long – if she would even make it to the birth.
– Or you can terminate the pregnancy, said the doctor.
– But you can’t do this, you have to go to another state. I can not help you. You have to figure it out yourself.
– How long will Miley live? Allie asked.
– We do not know. She could die tomorrow, next week. Next month. It is impossible to say. The longer you are pregnant, the worse she will be. The higher the health risk for you, the doctor warned.
The question was not whether Miley would die, but when.
expand-left
full screen Miley had stopped growing. Several organs did not develop as they should. Photo: Nora Savosnick
Almost total ban
America’s national abortion law, Roe v Wade, had been overturned eight months earlier.
As president, Donald Trump had been able to appoint three conservative judges to the Supreme Court’s nine seats, thus causing the bench’s ideological tilt to tip to the right. His judge helped vote to overturn the abortion guarantee, which applied for nearly 50 years.
At the same time, it was instead up to each individual state to legislate on abortion. Over a dozen rushed to impose harsh bans.
Allie Phillips’ home state Tennessee adopted one of the country’s strictest.
The state’s politicians almost completely banned abortions, even in cases of incest and rape.
There was only one exception: to save the life of the pregnant person.
The problem, Allie says, is that no one knows what it means. How close to death do you have to be? Five percent? Ten? No Tennessee doctor wants to take the risk of being sentenced to 15 years in prison if a judge rules that the abortion was illegal.
The doctors felt that Allie was not floating in sufficient danger for an abortion.
expand-left
full screen Allie Phillips’ home state of Tennessee has one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans. Photo: Nora Savosnick
Told to his followers
The next morning, Allie took to the megaphone she knew. With red swollen eyes, she posted a Tiktok video about the doctor’s visit, where she spoke directly to the camera. The video received over three million views, and tens of thousands of comments.
Allie saw no other option but to flee for an abortion. She called clinics all over the country. Tennessee is surrounded by other states with strict abortion bans; Alabama, Mississippi, Arkansas, Georgia. She would have to cross not just one, but several state lines for an abortion.
Finally, she found a clinic that could accept her, in New York. The abortion alone would cost $1,100. In total, with flights, accommodation, and lost income, the trip would cost 5,000 dollars – the equivalent of 55,000 Swedish kronor.
As a truck mechanic and a nanny, they barely earned that much together each month.
– We are a low-income family, living “paycheck to paycheck”. There was no room in our budget for a spontaneous trip to another state, says Allie.
They considered taking out a loan. But in the end, Allie turned to her followers and asked for help. The money poured in.
She got double the amount she asked for – in one day.
expand-left
full screen Allie on the couch with her daughter Adalie, 6. Photo: Nora Savosnick
Shocking news at the clinic
Allie and Bryan flew to New York at the beginning of March last year. They landed just before midnight.
Allie was 150 miles from home and fled for her life. Suddenly they were sitting there, in a strange city, in a stranger’s apartment. The rain drummed against the window. In the middle of the night, they went out into Times Square. Bought a slice of pizza.
There, in the middle of the intersection with the illuminated billboards, she turned on the camera, and recorded another tiktok video.
“We did it”she wrote to her three hundred thousand followers.
expand-left
full screen The little pink urn with Miley’s ashes. Photo: Nora Savosnick
The next morning, Allie took a taxi to the abortion clinic on the sixth floor of a giant skyscraper. Bryan wasn’t allowed to come along, they only allowed patients.
She was looking forward to saying goodbye to Miley.
When the ultrasound technician began the examination, she was silent at first. Then she started asking questions.
– When was the last ultrasound?
– Almost two weeks ago.
– Was there a heartbeat then?
– Yes. Not now?
The technician slowly shook his head.
Allie went to pieces. Miley’s heart had already stopped beating, they didn’t know when.
Carrying a dead fetus meant a great health risk. Allie could suffer from acute blood poisoning or a blood clot, and lose her life, the doctors said.
In the corridor, Allie put the mask under her chin, and told the tiktok followers what happened.
“I’m sitting here on the floor in the corner, all by myself,” she sobbed.
Never before had Americans followed the abortion journey from the inside, directly via social media. It was like a raw feed, straight into the radical shift that shook the United States.
expand-left
full screen Framed ultrasound pictures hang on the wall in the living room. Nearby, on the shelf above the fireplace, hang blankets embroidered with Miley’s name, necklaces and the small urn. Photo: Nora Savosnick
Met local politicians
Allie went home after the abortion. Grieving, and even more angry about the abortion bans.
She became one of several women suing Tennessee over its strict emergency medical abortion laws.
In the months that passed, she continued to share her story on Tiktok.
What can we do? How can we solve this?
She didn’t want a single American woman to have to go through the same thing.
Allie met her local politician, Republican Jeff Burkhart. She wondered if he could help her with a bill to expand the law. During the conversation, it turned out that he was a strong opponent of abortion.
– What would you say if your daughter called and said she was pregnant with a fetus that would not survive, and that her life could be in danger?
– I would tell her to continue the pregnancy anyway.
Allie looked at him blankly.
– That’s just how I was brought up, he explained.
That meeting planted a seed. That evening, Allie texted him and thanked him:
I look forward to speaking with you again. Who knows? One day I might run against you?
expand-left
full screenAllie didn’t want a single American woman to have to go through the same thing. Photo: Nora Savosnick
“Unexpected plot twist”
When we meet, a year has passed since the abortion.
In the nursery that Allie prepared for Miley, a corner has been converted into political headquarters.
Plakat, pins, t-shirts.
Everything with “Allie 2024” in blue, white and pink.
She had never even considered becoming a politician before, but the abortion trip changed everything. Her home state deserves bettershe thought.
In the fall election, Allie is challenging incumbent Republican Burkhart as a Democrat, in the race to represent the 75th District of Tennessee. Her home district.
– He probably didn’t expect that plot twist, she smiles.
The district has been identified as one that Democrats believe they can win in the fall election.
The whole country therefore has its eyes on Allie. Her race could become a stress test for the Republicans, where the result will show whether the abortion issue drives voters away from the party.
Called “baby killer”
Even in the neighborhood, Allie notices how deep the political trenches are.
She points through the window. Across the street, a giant Trump 2024 flag flies.
Allie invited the neighbor. She wanted him to know that the flag feels like an insult to her.
– I told him: Trump is the whole reason why I had to leave this state. Trump is the whole reason women are forced to flee, and little girls are forced to cross state lines to get abortions – and he’s proud of it.
– Do you not understand what you are supporting? she continued.
The flag continued to hang.
expand-left
full screen The fight for the right to abortion made Allie Phillips a politician. Photo: Nora Savosnick
When Allie was collecting signatures for her candidacy recently, another Trump-voting neighbor slammed the door in her face.
She is showered with rudeness online. They call her a baby killer. Some tell her to “move if you don’t like the abortion laws!”.
Allie strikes out with her hands.
– But why move when I can do better?.
“Without Tiktok, I might not have lived”
Allie is the first to redo one so public abortion journey after the abortion bans and running to become a politician.
They are becoming many more.
Abortion is predicted to be one of the heaviest issues in the autumn presidential and local elections; above all, it mobilizes democratic voters – and causes young women to apply themselves to the corridors of power.
– I have helped several women take the step. “A lot of people running in Tennessee say they’re running because of me,” Allie said.
Framed ultrasound pictures hang on the wall in the living room. Next door, on the shelf above the fireplace, hang blankets embroidered with Miley’s name, necklaces and a small pink urn with ashes.
It is the memorial site for the daughter she never had.
Allie says that if it wasn’t for Tiktok, she doesn’t know if she would be alive today.
– It is thanks to the platform that I was able to be vulnerable and share my story. It is because of him that people helped me, that I got money to leave the state and was able to stand as a politician.
“Fight for my daughter”
Allie says she doesn’t know if she dares to be a mother again. Not as long as there are strict abortion bans that can put an end to care in high-risk pregnancies.
The year has been tough for the whole family.
– Seeing her upset has upset me. I’d rather not talk about it, then I’ll be sad, says Bryan.
Working full-time, being a parent and running an election campaign at the same time has been like riding around in a hurricane, says Allie. She has done tons of interviews, testified before the US Senate about her experience, yes, even been invited to the White House.
Running for office has become a way to fight for reproductive freedom, for one’s daughter, and for other people’s daughters.
– No one will fight for my daughter like I do, says Allie.
Whether or not she wins her election race this fall, Allie knows she’s already made a difference. Politicians who advocate banning abortion can no longer sit back.
– I don’t think they understood how “pissed off” people would be. But we have woken up and are getting involved. People who never cared about politics before are now paying attention. People like me, who never wanted to be a politician.
– They have awakened a beast.
expand-left
full screen Aftonbladet’s team in Tennessee: Photographer Nora Savosnick and reporter Emelie Svensson.
