Appeals court allows abortion waiting period; SCOTUS does not have to intervene

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – In a ruling which means the US Supreme Court does not have to immediately get involved, a federal appeals court temporarily reinstated Tennessee’s 48-hour waiting period for abortions, the Washington Free Beacon reports. The appeals court decision overturned a 2020 trial court decision which determined the waiting period instituted in 2017 to be unconstitutional.

Reversing a decision by district judge Bernard Friedman, the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued a temporary stay, allowing the waiting mandate to be in place while Tennessee state fights the trial court ruling against the 48-hour provision, WFB reports.

The state had wanted the Supreme Court to intervene, but the appeals court ruling means that is not necessary at this stage.

In his 136-page opinion determining that the waiting period is unconstitutional, trial judge Friedman said the waiting law is particularly burdensome for low-income women who cannot afford to make multiple trips to the clinic, WFB reports.

Litigation between the state and abortion providers is ongoing, although the Supreme Court ruled in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992) that a waiting period is constitutional. Thus far, no federal appellate court has been able to find grounds on which this measure could be nullified, WFB said.

A divided three-judge panel of the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied Tennessee’s request to put Friedman’s decision on hold while litigation continues.

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