Tennessee’s Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti Wednesday filed a motion to dismiss a lawsuit by State Representative Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville), Nashville abortion activist and attorney Rachel Welty, and others to stop a bill banning the practice of abortion trafficking from taking effect.
HB 1895, introduced by State Representative Jason Zachary (R-Knoxville) and signed into law by Gov. Bill Lee (R) in May, bans minors seeking an abortion to be transported across state lines by people unrelated to them to obtain an abortion.
It was challenged in court by Behn and Welty in June.
Skrmetti filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit, saying the plaintiffs have no legal leg to stand on. The suit was filed not only against the state but also against several district attorneys general.
“Plaintiffs’ Complaint does not state a viable claim to relief because it fails under the applicable law and runs headlong into well-settled jurisdictional bars,” the motion says. “Because no amount of repleading could cure these legal deficiencies, the Court should dismiss this suit as a matter of law.”
Skrmetti referred to the plaintiffs’ claim that the abortion trafficking law violates the 14th Amendment because it is “unconstitutionally vague.”
“Plaintiffs zero in on the Act’s use of the term ‘recruits,’ suggesting that its inclusion poses constitutional vagueness problems. That term, they say, is ‘not defined’ in the Act and is susceptible to a wide range of potential meanings,'” says the complaint. “Plaintiffs also complain that the Defendant District Attorneys General declined to respond to their ‘specific request to clarify the meaning of the word …and define its scope.’ And “based on both the undefined nature of the word . . . and the Defendants’ refusal to clarify their own interpretation of [it],” they conclude, the Act is unconstitutionally vague.”
But, Skrmetti argues, the Due Process Clause’s “void for vagueness” doctrine says only that a “person of ordinary intelligence” has “a reasonable opportunity to know what is prohibited” by the law and that, in this case, regular people are able to understand what is being outlawed.
Skrmetti also rebuffed complaints that the law is unconstitutionally overbroad and burdens constitutionally protected speech.
The latter claim stems from the plaintiff’s argument that the abortion trafficking law would legally prevent abortion advocacy.
“But … the law’s text—properly interpreted—does not prohibit pure speech or advocacy about abortion at all,” the motion says. “It prohibits only affirmative conduct intended to convince a minor to cross state lines, without parental consent, to obtain an abortion that Tennessee law prohibits, or transporting or harboring a minor for that purpose.They have not come close to demonstrating an intent to engage in that sort of conduct.”
Skrmetti said in the motion that the defendants, who were all sued in professional capacities, have sovereign immunity in the case.
“This, too, requires dismissal,” the motion says.
– – –
Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on X/Twitter.
THE LEFT WILL GO TO ANY EXTREME TO KILL BABIES.
AND REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTS.
They will tell your kids that Drag Queens are normal; that porn is OK in school; that there are 57 genders; that if you don’t like the gender God gave you, you can ask a Doctor to cut your penis off & create a fake vagina in your rectum ; that men can breast feed & menstruate; and that Pedophilia is normal.
When are people going to realize the Democrat Party has been hijacked by evil people set on destroying American morals, which can only result in our country’s failure.
This Republic was founded on Judea-Christian principles.
And for those who do not know the difference, a Republic is governed by the people whontell their elected officials how to vote on issues; whereas, in a Democracy, the government governs as they wish. America is slipping into a Democracy bc our government Deep State has grown so big & our debt is unsustainable.
The Main Steam Media including local Nashville media no longer tells its viewers the TRUTH. They are a huge part of the problem. So are Christian (Catholic) Pastors who stick their heads in the sand. So afraid they’ll lose donations.
It’s disgusting.
People who want to make change for good are afraid or not allowed to go door to door to introduce themselves to people & ask them for their vote. You can’t even call them, to find out about them.
I voted last Saturday, & I was shocked when I asked a person, who was there campaigning for a person to be my State Representative, “where is he from,” I told her I never heard of this person, & I’ve lived here all my life. She did not know?
The sign said ” Endorsed by the FOP”, yet Metro Police Officers are not required to live in Davidson County. They can’t vote, they don’t pay taxes etc. But the same goes for all Metro employees, even though we pay their salaries, health insurance, life insurance & pension benefits. There is something wrong with that..
I do know that wasn’t the case prior to the election of Phil Bredesen as Nashvilles Mayor. No one knew him. He was a recent I implant from some Northern State. He never did anything for Davidson County. But the media, especially John Seiganthaler (Nashville Tennessean). POWER OF MEDIA elected thus stranger, who significantly changed Nashville’s identity.
He wrote an Executive Order to allow Metro employees to live outside Davidson County. I’m not sure that EO was even legal. We didnt vote for that. As a Davidson County taxpayer all my adult life, I resent that. Because thousands of people who work in this county don’t even vote here. We lost a huge portion of our tax base, which makes Davidson County homeowners carry a heavier tax burden.
Do we have people running for office that maybe rented an apartment in Davidson Co to establish a residence just to be eligible to run for office?
Is anyone verifying eligibility?
Maybe our State Legislaure needs to take a look at who is being allowed to run for offce. What are the eligibility qualifications? Take back the people’s power.
Aftyn Behn was the TN leader for the anti-American, anti-republican group Indivisble. Their goal was and is to stop Trump from being elected and infiltrate leftist policies and law into our state. She is not in office to do good things for our state she is in office to turn TN blue just like her buddy Heidi Campbell. If voters do nothing else in 2024 they MUST get her ( and Campbell) out of office. She is a cancer and if not removed the cancer will metastasize.