Mary M. Reeves

mmreeves@dnj.com

MURFREESBORO — More than a dozen people filed in quietly to Judge Royce Taylor’s courtroom Tuesday morning, most wearing stickers that said “Abortion on demand & without apology.”

Moments later, the single deputy usually on duty in the courtroom was joined by three Murfreesboro police officers and another deputy. All remained quiet as Anna Yocca appeared on the screen for her remote arraignment hearing. Taylor appointed public defender Gerald Melton to her case.

Yocca, 31, of Swindon Circle was arrested Dec. 16 and charged with attempted first-degree murder after a failed attempt to end her pregnancy. The story of her arrest has gone viral, bringing responses to The Daily News Journal from across the country. On Tuesday it brought protesters from across the country.

They came from Tennessee, Georgia, New York and Vermont. As soon as the judge finished with Yocca, entering a not guilty plea for her and appointing a public defender, the protesters stood in the courtroom and raised their fists.

“Free Anna Yocca!” they chanted as they marched out of the courtroom. “Abortion is not murder!”

They fell silent as soon as they were asked by one of the deputies and then carried their protests outside, where they displayed posters and banners and continued their chants.

“This is not just about Tennessee,” said Joan Hirsch of New York. “It’s egregious and hideous. She didn’t commit a crime.”

Yocca is accused of using a coat hanger to end her pregnancy in September, Detective Tommy Roberts reported. She was 24 weeks into gestation. She was indicted by the Rutherford County grand jury in December and is being held in the Rutherford County Adult Detention Center on $200,000 bond. No mention was made of a bond reduction.

Roberts reported Yocca filled a bathtub with water and “took a coat hanger and attempted to self-abort her pregnancy.” Because of the amount of blood, she “became concerned about her safety” and her boyfriend took her to Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital.

Yocca was transported to Saint Thomas Midtown in Nashville where medical professionals were able to save the child, who weighed 1.5 pounds.

Sgt. Kyle Evans, public information officer for the Murfreesboro Police Department, said the child is in DCS custody.

“Although Saint Thomas Midtown was able to save ‘Baby Yocca,’ they indicated to me that his quality of life will be forever harmed,” Roberts said.

Many of the protesters were affiliated with Bob Avakian and the Revolutionary Communist Party USA. Many were there just to spread their message.

“Fetuses are not babies. Women are not incubators. Abortion is not murder,” shouted Adrienne Luendo of New York, quoting the brochure the group was handing out.

“When a woman attempts a coat hanger abortion, it’s the system that’s guilty of murder, not her,” she told The Daily News Journal.

“This is a deep assault, an escalation in the war on women.”

No discussion hearing or plea date were set. Melton, the attorney assigned to the cas,e planned to meet with Yocca at the jail later on Tuesday.

Michelle Willard contributed to this report.