NASHVILLE, Tenn. — As Tennessee prepares to become the second U.S. state to enact a ban against adults helping minors get an abortion without parental permission, a state Democratic lawmaker and reproductive rights activist on Monday filed a legal challenge alleging the statute is unconstitutional.
The complaint filed in federal court came on the second anniversary of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that had guaranteed a constitutional right to abortion. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty.
“Two years ago today, I vowed to aid and abet abortion always, to not give up despite the overturn of Roe v. Wade, and to fight,” Welty, a longtime abortion access advocate, said in a statement. “I need to stand up for other advocates around the state who should not have to live in fear of civil or criminal penalties for disseminating information about routine healthcare.”
Earlier this year, Tennessee’s GOP-controlled Statehouse signed off on a proposal making it illegal for an adult who “intentionally recruits, harbors, or transports” a pregnant minor within the state to get an abortion without consent from the minor’s parents or guardians. Those convicted of breaking the law would be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which requires a nearly one-year jail sentence.
The law, which goes into effect July 1, does not contain exemptions for minors who may have been raped by their parents or guardians. Instead, the statute says a biological father who raped the minor and caused the pregnancy can’t pursue a civil action.
The Tennessee law mimics the so-called “ abortion trafficking ” law enacted in Idaho last year, but a federal judge has since temporarily blocked that state’s statute after reproductive rights groups sued to challenge it.
The lawsuit filed Monday names 11 district attorneys who work in middle Tennessee as the defendants, alleging that they all ignored Welty’s previous requests to define what behavior would be deemed illegal under the new law.
A spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, which represents the state in constitutional lawsuits, did not immediately return an emailed request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Welty and Behn argue that the law is “unconstitutionally vague,” pointing out that the word “recruits” is undefined. They also argue that the statute criminalizes certain speech in violation of the First…
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