NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A federal judge on Friday temporarily barred Tennessee from enforcing a law that prohibits adults from helping minors obtain an abortion without parental consent.
In a 49-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Aleta Trauger argued that the Republican-controlled state cannot make it a crime to “communicate freely” about legal abortion options, even in a state that bans abortion at all stages of pregnancy in all but a handful of situations. Trauger’s decision means the law is on hold while the case moves through the courts.
“The Tennessee General Assembly has apparently determined that when the subject of ‘abortion trafficking’ comes up, the best interests of the pregnant child are not merely a secondary consideration, but are not worthy of any specific consideration at all,” Trauger wrote.
Earlier this year, Tennessee Republican lawmakers and GOP Governor Bill Lee signed a bill that would make it illegal for an adult who “knowingly recruits, harbors or transports a pregnant child or adolescent” within the state to obtain an abortion without the consent of the minor’s parents or guardians. Those convicted of violating the law could face a Class A misdemeanor charge, which carries a penalty of nearly a year in prison.
The law, which went into effect on July 1, did not include exceptions for minors who may have been raped by their parents or guardians. Instead, it said that biological fathers who caused their daughters’ pregnancies, if minors, could not take legal action.
Tennessee’s law mimicked the so-called “abortion trafficking” law passed last year in Idaho, the first state to ever pass such a law. However, a federal judge has temporarily blocked Idaho’s version while the case moves through the courts.
Just before the law was to take effect, Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed a lawsuit on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion.
Behn called the Tennessee ruling a “monumental victory for free speech and the fight for abortion rights.”
“This ruling not only protects Tennesseans, but it also ensures the freedom to discuss abortion care so we can continue to provide support, share accurate information, and advocate for the rights of those seeking essential health care around the world,” she said.
A spokesman for the attorney general’s office, which is working to have the case dismissed, did not immediately respond to an emailed request for comment on Friday’s ruling.
Trauger sided with Welty and Behn, who argued that Tennessee’s law was “unconstitutionally vague.” He specifically pointed out that the word “recruits” is not defined in the law.
Trauger also raised several First Amendment concerns in explaining that her ruling would apply to the entire state, not just Welty and Behn.
“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not merely a special protection the Constitution affords a few distinguished speakers so that those speakers can hear themselves speak; it is a protection available to everyone, for the benefit of everyone, because messages gain their full force not by being spoken but by being disseminated,” Trauger wrote.
Tennessee bans abortions at all stages of pregnancy, but there are exceptions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, and to remove a miscarriage or save the mother’s life. Notably, doctors must use their “reasonable medical” judgment — a term that some find too vague and can be challenged by fellow physicians — in deciding whether performing the procedure would save the pregnant patient’s life or prevent serious harm.
A group of women is currently suing in a separate case seeking to clarify the state’s abortion ban. A court ruling is expected soon on whether the lawsuit can proceed or whether Tennessee’s abortion ban can be suspended while the legal battle continues.
