Tennessee bans 'abortion trafficking' of underage girls

Tennessee is the second state in the country to enact a ban on abortion trafficking after Idaho, which passed a similar measure in April 2023.

In November 2023, a federal judge blocked enforcement of the Idaho law, issuing a temporary restraining order against it after opponents, including two organizations that support abortion and a lawyer who helps minor girls to abort, challenged it in court.

Opponents argued in court papers filed in July 2023 that Idaho's law unconstitutionally restricts interstate and intrastate travel and that it violates the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution by infringing on the right “to engage in expressive conduct, including providing money and transportation (and other support) for pregnant minors traveling within and outside of Idaho to access legal out-of-state abortion care.

They also argued that some minor girls seek abortions because they have been sexually abused by a parent or guardian or because they are victims of human trafficking for sexual purposes, and therefore consult “adults of confidence that support their position.

In support of Idaho's law, the state attorney general's office argued in court papers in September 2023 that the U.S. Constitution “protects the rights of parents not only to make these medical decisions for their children”, but also to be with their children when they are sick. obtain medical attention. The state attorney general's office also argued that Idaho should be immune from being sued in federal court over state law under the 11th Amendment to the federal Constitution, which limits the ability to sue states in federal courts.

U.S. District Judge Debora Grasham, in her ruling blocking enforcement of the law, called Idaho's law “unconstitutionally vague” and said it violated free speech.

“The state can, and Idaho does, criminalize certain conduct occurring within its own borders, such as abortion, kidnapping and human trafficking. What the State cannot do is make a law muzzling the speech and expressive activities of a particular point of view with which the State disagrees under the guise of parental rights,” Grasham wrote in the decision dated November 8.

Federal district judges are appointed by federal district court judges to serve terms of four or eight years. They help manage the number of cases.

The Idaho Attorney General's Office appealed the decision. The case is pending.