Tennessee: Federal Judge Blocks Law Prohibiting Adults From Helping a Minor Obtain Abortion

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A federal judge last week issued a temporary injunction blocking Tennessee from enforcing a new law that bans adults from helping minors get an abortion without parental consent, the Associated Press reports.

Earlier this year, Republican-led Tennessee approved new legislation (dubbed an “abortion trafficking ban”)  that makes it illegal for an adult to “intentionally recruit, harbor, or transport” a pregnant minor within the state for the purpose of obtaining an abortion without the consent of the minor’s parents or guardians. Under this law, adults found guilty of “abortion trafficking of a minor” are charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which carries a penalty of up to one year in jail.

Tennessee has banned abortion with exemptions in cases of molar pregnancies, ectopic pregnancies, and to remove a miscarriage unless the woman’s life is in danger.

Expressing concern that the new law does not protect child victims of parental rape, Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed suit to block the law.

In a 49-page ruling issued on Friday, September 20, US District Judge Aleta Trauger wrote: “The Tennessee General Assembly determined that, when the topic at hand is ‘abortion trafficking,’ the best interests of the pregnant child are not merely a secondary consideration, but unworthy of particularized consideration at all,” Trauger added.

Tennessee State Rep. Jason Zachary (R-TN), who helped craft the law, called the ruling incorrect. “The law in question is about parental rights, period,” he said, adding that it “prohibits an adult who is not the parent/guardian of a minor from facilitating an abortion for that minor without the parent’s consent. This is common sense.”

The injunction holds while the case makes its way through the appeals process.

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