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The Tennessee Conservative [By Olivia Lupia] –
After new legislation which went into effect this year added limited exceptions for medical emergencies to Tennessee’s abortion restrictions, state attorneys are now arguing to have a lawsuit challenging the Human Life Protection Act dismissed.
Assistant Solicitor General in Tennessee’s Office of the Attorney General Jenna Adamson told a three-judge panel that the new law, “made significant changes” to Tennessee’s abortion restrictions which makes it a “different case” and therefore renders the suit moot.
The plaintiff, the Center for Reproductive Rights, argued that the legislation’s language is too vague and ambiguous, leaving doctors uncertain if they are breaking the law when performing an “emergency abortion”, as doctors found in violation of the law are subject to revocation of their licenses and/or prison time.
Per the law, practitioners may perform an abortion if they deem, “using reasonable medical judgement,” that the abortion is “necessary” to prevent the mother’s death or to “prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of a major bodily function.”
However, these “risks” and “impairments” are so broadly defined, they could be understood to include conditions which have low mortality rates and/or generally resolve after birth. The exceptions were also expanded to include molar and ectopic pregnancies.
Originally filed in 2023 after Tennessee’s Human Life Protection Act took effect in 2022, the lawsuit represents seven women in the state who say they were denied emergency abortions and two physicians who supposedly fear criminal prosecution for performing what they call “lifesaving care.” The American Medical Association also joined the legal challenge in March of this year.
In 2024, a temporary injunction, which still remains in place, was issued by the three-judge panel blocking the state’s medical board from disciplining doctors for providing these “emergency abortions” and outlined four specific conditions which they deemed would qualify as “medical necessity” exemptions, which were reflected in the 2024 update to Tennessee abortion laws.
The ruling also noted “confusion and lack of consensus within the Tennessee medical community on the circumstances requiring necessary health-and life-saving abortion care,” which also opens the door to practitioners potentially performing an abortion and being released from liability so long as they can justify it as a “medical necessity”.
There was no timeline given by the judges on when they will decide if the case can proceed or will be dismissed. Chancellor Patricia Head Moskal only said the panel will, “issue our ruling as soon as we are able to do so.”
About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
