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A federal judge blocked some of Tennessee’s laws and made it a crime to help adults help minors obtain out-of-state abortions without parental consent.
The law, known to ban “abortion trafficking of minors,” was enacted by Republican Gov. Bill Lee in 2024 and with support from GOP-controlled Congress, pregnant minors criminalize certain behaviors by pregnant minors or adults who are not parents or legal guardians.
US Circuit Judge Julia Gibbons, appointee to former President George W. Bush, has issues with the “recruitment clause” of the law. It provides information on how to receive an abortion outside of state to minors and how they plan their trips. In a summary judgment Friday, Gibbons said, “I agreed that the provisions violate the First Amendment to prohibit speeches that encourage legal abortions while discouraging legal abortions.
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Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skulmetti leaves a press conference on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, discussing the US Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision that upheld the ban on gender transition treatment for Miners in Tennessee.
“It is unacceptable perspective discrimination, and the initial revision is rarely tolerated and is not tolerated here,” writes Gibbons, who is sitting in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Gibbons has forever blocked the enforcement of provisions that encourage minors to seek legal external abortions.
“The recruitment clause targets speeches for its message (abortion is safe, general and normal, available in certain states and presumably unconstitutional,” the judge added.
Gibbons noted that four judges from the Central District of Tennessee were brought in to hear the lower court case after rejecting themselves. If Tennessee appeals the decision, the case advances to the US Court of Appeals in the Sixth Circuit.
The Tennessee Attorney General has already appealed the November ruling by US District Judge Areta Trugger, who temporarily blocked the recruitment clause. That appeal remains in the Sixth Circuit Court.
The lawsuit comes from Democrat Aftyn Behn, a licensed social worker, and Rachel Welty, a Nashville lawyer and pro-aboration advocate.
“The plaintiffs talk about legal abortions and because minors are trying to help legal out-of-state abortions, their intended speech is protected under the First Amendment,” Gibbons wrote.
Tennessee Governor Bill Lee signed the Abortion Anti-Trafficking Act last year. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc, Getty Images)
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In response to the decision, Welty and Ben’s chief defense counsel Daniel A. Holwitz said Gibbons’ “thoughtful, ripe opinion protects the right that all Tennessees will share true information about abortion without fear of crusaders seeking criminal penalty for doing so.”
“We also assert that the government has no authority to enact Overlord Act, which criminalizes pure speeches based on disagreement with the chairman’s perspective,” he added in a statement. “This is a huge victory for Welty, a Tennessee, who believes the government has no right to prosecute citizens to share true information.”
However, in the final decision, Gibbons rejected the plaintiff’s claim that the law was too vague under the constitutional law under legitimate process provisions. The judge sided with the state on the matter and said the law was specific enough to which actions were prohibited. Gibbons did not block some of the laws that physically transport minors on state lines to receive abortions or to embrace minors with the aim of supporting abortions.
Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skulmetti, along with Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson (R. Franklin), will look at a press conference discussing the US Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision on Wednesday, June 18, 2025, which upheld a ban on gender-transition treatment for minors at the Capitol.
“The court has approved a summary judgment on plaintiffs’ free speech claims and prohibits enforcement of the adoption prongs of the law,” Gibbons wrote. “However, the law is not invalid due to ambiguity. Therefore, the court grants a summary judgment to the defendant on the plaintiff’s allegations of ambiguity.”
The law does not apply to minor parents or legal guardians, authorized media providers acting in emergencies, or law enforcement agencies acting within the scope of their official obligations.
Violation constitutes a Class A misdemeanor who is fined up to 11 months and 29 days in prison, or up to $2,500. The law provides that violators may be “liable in civil lawsuits for the unlawful death of a fetus that has been discontinued.”
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The US Supreme Court is Roev. After overturning Wade, Tennessee enforced the “trigger law” and in most cases effectively ban abortions with limited exceptions.
Daniel Wallace is a news and political reporter for Fox News Digital. Story tips can be sent to danielle.wallace@fox.com and to X:@danimwallace.
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