Federal Appeals Court Rules Against Tennessee Abortion Bans
A federal appeals court on Friday affirmed a lower court’s decision to block a Tennessee measure signed into law last year that prohibits abortions after a “fetal heartbeat” is detected and
prevents citing a Down syndrome or other medical diagnosis as justification for an abortion.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit
said in its ruling that the district court’s previous decision on the legislation, known as House Bill 2263, “closely follows the precedents of our circuit and those of the Supreme Court, as well as the persuasive opinions of other circuits.”
“Although this circuit’s recent and alarming decisions have broadened the extent to which the government may impede a person’s constitutional right to choose whether to carry a pregnancy to term, the law remains clear that if a regulation is a substantial obstacle to a woman seeking an abortion, it is invalid,” Senior Judge Martha Craig Daughtrey wrote for the majority opinion.
While appeals court Judge Amul R. Thapar joined the others in affirming the ruling, he dissented in part, arguing that the Supreme Court’s 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade should not have been used as the method to decide abortion access.
Thapar argued that the Supreme Court’s framework “cannot be justified under the original meaning of the Constitution. Nor can it be justified under a living constitutional approach.”
Samantha Fisher, a spokesperson for Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery (R), said in a statement to The Hill, "We are disappointed in the Sixth Circuit’s decision and will seek further review."
Federal appeals court rules against Tennessee abortion bans