Tennessee court weighs challenge to abortion ban’s narrow medical exception
A Tennessee court will weigh whether to temporarily block the state’s abortion ban when it comes to dangerous pregnancies, after hearing arguments Thursday in a legal challenge to the law’s narrow medical exception.
A Tennessee court will weigh whether to temporarily block the state’s abortion ban when it comes to dangerous pregnancies, after hearing arguments Thursday in a legal challenge to the law’s narrow medical exception.
The three-judge panel could also decide to dismiss the case entirely when it eventually renders its written decision.
The case against the state was brought by the Center for Reproductive Rights, which argues that the “unconstitutionally vague” language in the medical exception in Tennessee’s abortion ban endangers the lives of pregnant women.
In 2022, Nicole Blackmon was about 15 weeks pregnant when her fetus was diagnosed with a deadly anomaly, according to the lawsuit. Blackmon, of Nashville, was denied an abortion and later gave birth to a stillborn baby after more than 32 hours of labor.
“Because of the state’s cruel laws, I was forced to carry a baby for months that was never going to live,” she said in a statement. “I was condemned to endure both physical and emotional torture, knowing that I was going to deliver a stillborn.”
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