A Tennessee lawmaker and pro-abortion attorney have filed a lawsuit against several district attorneys over a law that bans adults from helping minors get abortions. The law allows for minors to obtain an abortion if they have a parent or legal guardian’s consent.
Tennessee is among the states that have banned abortion, with limited exceptions, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in June 2022.
The lawsuit, filed by Democrat state Rep. Aftyn Behn and attorney Rachel Welty, argues that the legislation not only makes it illegal for adults to help minors get abortions but also criminalizes “pure speech about such care.”
Adults who attempt to “recruit” a pregnant minor to get an abortion in the state or in states where it is illegal can be prosecuted and sentenced to up to 11 months and 29 days in prison, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit was filed against the eleven district attorneys who represent Middle Tennessee.
The lawsuit argues that the word “recruit” is undefined in the legislation and that the district attorneys “who are tasked with enforcing” the law have “refused to clarify its meaning.”
“These failures render the prohibition unconstitutionally vague,” the lawsuit states. “Regardless of how ‘recruits’ is defined, the prohibition criminalizes pure speech based on its content and the viewpoint a speaker expresses. The First Amendment prohibits such content- and viewpoint-based censorship, though.”
As a result, the lawsuit states that the legislation is “unconstitutionally overbroad” and that the law should be declared as such.
The lawsuit identifies Ms. Welty as “an outspoken and unapologetic advocate for safe and healthy access to abortion care” in the Middle Tennessee area.
“In her role as an advocate for safe and healthy access to abortion care, Ms. Welty has on many occasions participated in informational campaigns and distributed literature about abortion access, including how to access legal abortion-inducing drugs,” the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, Ms. Welty asked the district attorneys to define what recruiting behavior means in the legislation.
“Even setting aside vagueness issues, any reasonable interpretation of the law appears to criminalize pure speech and advocacy—a viewpoint-based speech restriction,” Ms. Welty stated in the lawsuit.
Ms. Behn also opposes the legislation and welcomes “the opportunity to take a young person out of state who wants to have an abortion,” even if it lands her in jail,” the lawsuit states.
The attorney for Ms. Welty and Ms. Behn, Daniel Horwitz, posted a statement on social media platform X, arguing that the new law will infringe his clients’ First Amendment rights.
Ms. Behn said in the statement that bodily freedom is “vital to all of us.”
“This is about a young person’s freedom to decide whether, when, and with whom to have a family,” she said. “Extremists believe politicians have the right to make their most personal decisions based on their faith and values. We believe in the freedom to decide based on our faith and values.”
Parental Rights
Ingrid Duran, the state legislative director with the National Right to Life Committee, told The Epoch Times that the Tennessee law is about parental consent.The law only applies to underage, unemancipated minors, she said, prohibiting adults other than their parents who are seeking to get them an abortion.
She said the law is important because human traffickers target at-risk girls and when they get pregnant, they are coerced into an abortion.
The traffickers pose as a parent or guardian, with no questions asked, she said.
“It’s erroneous for this legislator and attorney to claim that this law violates free speech,” she said. “It’s not a violation of free speech to protect minors and parental rights.”
In response to The Epoch Times’ request for comment, The Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference stated that it doesn’t issue public statements on ongoing litigation.
