A federal appeals court has allowed a Tennessee law that prohibits abortions sought due to sex, race, or prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome, to go into effect until the U.S. Supreme Court rules in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.
On Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit allowed the sweeping Tennessee pro-life law to be enforced while litigation against it continues. The court also postponed hearing the case until the Supreme Court issues a decision in Dobbs, one that involves a Mississippi law that prohibits abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy.
Dobbs is the most serious challenge in decades to the 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, in which the court created a right to abortion.
The petition filed in that case asks the court to decide “whether all pre-viability prohibitions on elective abortions are unconstitutional.”
Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the pro-life Susan B. Anthony List, said in a statement about the Tennessee decision:
Abortions based on sex, race or disability diagnosis are a form of modern-day eugenics, permitted at any point in pregnancy – even right up to birth – in America thanks to the Supreme Court’s extreme precedents. The devastating toll of abortion on minority communities, people with Down syndrome, and thousands of missing baby girls is well documented. Tennessee’s landmark pro-life laws reflect the overwhelming consensus of Americans who oppose lethal discrimination against unborn children and want far greater limits on abortion than our national status quo allows.
NEW: 6th Circuit Court of Appeals allows Tennessee law, signed by @GovBillLee, that prohibits discriminatory abortions based on sex, race or prenatal diagnosis of Down syndrome to go into effect while litigation continues. https://t.co/XQNjqk0psZ #ModernizeOurLaw
— SBA Pro-Life America (@sbaprolife) February 3, 2022
The Supreme Court ruled in December the Texas Heartbeat Act, which prohibits abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, may remain in effect while challenges continue against it.
In June 2020, the bill passed the Tennessee House by a vote of 70-20, and was then approved by the state Senate, 23-5.
BREAKING: We are filing a lawsuit — along with partners @ReproRights and @ACLU — to stop Tennessee’s unconstitutional abortion ban.
This new ban comes just 2 months after Gov. Lee attempted to ban abortion procedures during the #COVID19 pandemic. https://t.co/5vJlxXf3PX
— Planned Parenthood (@PPFA) June 19, 2020
As The Tennessee Star reported, hours after the bill passed the state legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), the Center for Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood asked a federal district court to block the legislation from becoming law, even though Gov. Bill Lee (R) was prepared to sign it since he submitted the law himself to the legislature.
We have passed the strongest pro-life law in our state’s history and I am grateful to @ltgovmcnally, @CSexton25, @SenJohnson, @WilliamLamberth and members of our General Assembly for making the heartbeat bill law.
— Gov. Bill Lee (@GovBillLee) June 19, 2020
A recently released Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll found 71 percent of Americans support restrictions on abortion, including 49 percent of Democrats, 93 percent of Republicans, and 70 percent of Independents.
A new Knights of Columbus/Marist Poll shows that a majority of Americans support legal limits on abortion. Learn more: https://t.co/phVpXiHX8A
— Knights of Columbus (@KofC) January 20, 2022
“While we await a decision in the Dobbs late abortion case, which could restore the right of the people of every state and their elected representatives to protect the unborn and their mothers, we’re glad the 6th Circuit is allowing this law to go into effect,” Dannenfelser said. “We praise Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Assembly for their unwavering leadership in speaking up for unborn babies and their mothers.”
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Susan Berry, PhD is national education editor at The Star News Network. Email tips to [email protected].
