A judge temporarily suspends a Tennessee law that prohibits adults from helping minors obtain abortions without parental consent

A federal judge has temporarily blocked a Tennessee law that prohibits adults from assisting minors in abortions without parental consent.

US District Judge Aleta Trauger said in Friday’s ruling that the state cannot “criminalize free communication” about legal abortion options even in a state that prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, with exceptions.

The law is about to be suspended as the case continues in court.

“The Tennessee State Legislature has clearly determined that, when the subject at hand is ‘abortion trafficking,’ the interests of the fetus are not merely a secondary consideration, but should never be a primary consideration,” Trauger wrote.

TENNESSEE IS SURPRISED BY LAW PROHIBITING ADULTS FROM HELPING CHILDREN WHO HAVE BREAKTHROUGHS WITHOUT PARENTS’ CONSENT.

Earlier this year, lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Tennessee Legislature passed a law signed by GOP Gov. Bill Lee that would make it legal for an adult to “willfully harbor, harbor, or transport” a pregnant child within the state to obtain an abortion without obtaining an abortion. permission from the child’s parents.

Anyone convicted of violating the law will be charged with a Class A misdemeanor, which carries up to one year in prison. This law does not include the release of children who may have been raped by their parents, but a father who gave birth to his daughter and raped his daughter cannot continue in court.

Tennessee’s law, which went into effect July 1, mimics Idaho’s “abortion trafficking” law passed last year, the first state to enact the law. But a federal judge has since temporarily blocked Idaho’s law as the case continues in court.

Shortly before the Tennessee law took effect, Democratic state attorney Aftyn Behn and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty filed a lawsuit challenging the law on the two-year anniversary of the US Supreme Court’s June 24, 2022, decision to overturn the -Roe v. Wade, reversing the decision of the United States Supreme Court. the power to make laws regarding abortion returns to the states.

TRUMP IS PLAYING WOMEN’S VOTE, WANTS TO ENDORSE ‘POWER BREAK’ ABORTIONS.

Rep. Aftyn Behn, D-Nashville, speaks about a bill brought to the House floor on April 15, 2024, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP)

Trauger’s decision echoes Welty and Behn’s argument that the statute was “unconstitutionally vague,” specifically pointing out that the term “conscripts” is not defined in the statute.

The judge also expressed concern about the limitations of the First Amendment that he argued the law would impose.

“The freedom of speech guaranteed by the First Amendment is not just a special protection the Constitution gives to a few, elite speakers so that those speakers can feel free to speak; it is a protection available to everyone, for the benefit of the connected people. everyone, because messages don’t get their full force from being spoken, but from being distributed,” Trauger writes.

Behn called Friday’s decision a “huge victory” for free speech and the fight for access to abortion.

The law is about to be suspended as the case continues in court. (Getty Images)

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“This decision doesn’t just protect Tennesseans — it protects the freedom to discuss abortion in every state, ensuring we can continue to provide support, share accurate information, and fight for the rights of those seeking essential health care everywhere,” he told the Associated Press.

Abortion is prohibited in Tennessee at all stages of pregnancy, except in cases of molar pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy or to save the life of the mother. Doctors must use their “sound medical judgment” in deciding whether an abortion would save the mother’s life or prevent serious harm.

A women’s group is currently suing in another lawsuit to clarify the state’s abortion ban.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.