Last year, several women who experienced serious complications and health concerns during pregnancy but were denied an abortion in the state, filed a lawsuit along with doctors, arguing Tennessee’s near abortion ban was too vague and put doctors at risk of violating the law.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — On Thursday, a three-judge panel of temporarily blocked the state from disciplining Tennessee doctors who perform medically necessary abortions.
The ruling also outlined specific health conditions that qualify as a medical exception for abortion, including infections and potential loss of fertility.
Tennessee’s near ban on abortions allows exceptions only for “situations where the abortion is necessary to prevent the death of the pregnant woman or prevent serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function,” according to the language.
In 2023, doctors who were barred from performing medically necessary abortions and several women who experienced serious complications and health concerns during pregnancy but were denied abortions in the state, filed a lawsuit. That lawsuit argued that Tennessee’s near-total abortion ban was too vague and put doctors at risk of violating the law.
The lawsuit detailed how plaintiffs like Allyson Phillips had to travel to other states to receive an abortion for medical reasons.
“We were told [the baby] had no chance at life,” Phillips told News 2 in Sept. 2023. “I could not legally get the healthcare I needed in my home state, and the option to continue the pregnancy was a risk to me. The longer Miley survived in my womb, the more risk there was to my health, so I decided to have the abortion.”
In the ruling, the chancery judges called Tennessee’s “medical emergency” exception “demonstrably unclear,” adding that while they did not have the jurisdiction to block the criminal statute of the abortion ban where doctors could be charged with a felony for breaking the law, they would temporarily block the state from taking other disciplinary action against doctors, including revoking their medical license.
“The Court agreed with us that the medical exception in the ban is not clear and has not been working,” Linda Goldstein, senior counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights, the group that represented the plaintiffs in the lawsuit wrote in a statement to News 2. “This ruling is a win for pregnant patients in Tennessee and is vindication for the brave women in this case, who were denied or delayed in getting medically necessary abortions. Our hope is that the court’s clarification of Tennessee’s abortion ban will encourage Tennessee physicians to return to performing the essential health care they’ve been trained to provide.”
In response to the ruling, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti argued that the state’s law already allowed pregnant women “to receive all necessary care to address serious health risks.”
He went on to write in a statement to News 2:
“The Court’s limited injunction order mirrors that understanding. We all agree that doctors should save lives and protect their patients. We will continue to defend the law enacted by the people’s elected representatives.”
It’s unclear if the Attorney General plans to appeal the ruling.