Tennessee Governor Signs Bill on 'Abortion Trafficking' for Minors

Tennessee Republican Gov. Bill Lee signed a bill Tuesday that criminalizes “trafficking in minor abortions,” the latest Republican-led state to reduce access to abortion after the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

The new law aims to prevent assistance to minors seeking an abortion. It does not apply to the parents or legal guardian of the minor.

Under this measure, a person who helps a minor obtain an abortion or take abortion-inducing drugs, without the consent of the minor's parent, could be sued for damages by the minor, by her parents or by his biological father.

Tennessee joins a number of Republican-led states that have abortion restrictions taking effect or being enacted for the first time following the Supreme Court's 2022 ruling that overturned the federal law to abortion. While abortion is already banned in Tennessee – with no exceptions for rape or incest – the new law creates a new level of punishment for those who seek to help minors obtain abortions.

The law, which takes effect July 1, applies regardless of whether the pregnant minor “consented to the actions that led to the offense,” according to the law, which is a Class A misdemeanor and is punishable by a sentence of 11 months and 29 days. in prison. Before the measure was signed into law, Bryan Davidson, policy director at the ACLU of Tennessee, said it “harms young people's ability to access support from those they trust when they need it most need and constitutes an unprecedented attack on the First Amendment right to free speech and expression.

“It is absurd and cruel to force a young pregnant woman to comply with laws and systems designed to deprive her of her own bodily autonomy, while simultaneously removing the opportunity for trusted adults to provide her with advice and support. support when they need it most,” Davidson said. wrote in a letter to Lee last month.

CNN has contacted Lee's office for comment.

The new law is similar to an Idaho “abortion trafficking” measure that Republican Gov. Brad Little signed last year. This law prohibited adults in the state from helping a minor obtain an abortion without parental consent, although it was later blocked by a judge on constitutionality grounds.

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