Federal judge blocks part of Tennessee's "abortion trafficking" law
Why it matters: The judge's July 18 ruling strikes down the "recruitment" section of the 2024 law, which made it illegal for adults to "recruit" minors to get legal, out-of-state abortions.
The case highlights how speech has become a new battleground in the abortion debate.
Catch up quick: State Rep. Aftyn Behn (D-Nashville) and Nashville attorney Rachel Welty sued to block the law, arguing the "recruitment" section could broadly block their efforts to share information about how to obtain legal abortions in other states.
They said the law unconstitutionally criminalized their speech based on their viewpoints.
The court agreed, cementing an earlier preliminary injunction that temporarily blocked the law while legal arguments took place.
Yes, but: Other prongs of the law making it illegal to help transport or provide shelter for a minor seeking an abortion remain in place.
Context: Tennessee banned abortions in 2022, soon after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. The state ban only allows for narrow exceptions if the mother's life is in danger.
What she's saying: Tennessee's 2024 law "prohibits speech encouraging lawful abortion while allowing speech discouraging lawful abortion. That is impermissible viewpoint discrimination, which the First Amendment rarely tolerates — and does not tolerate here,"senior U.S. Circuit Judge Julia Gibbons wrote.
She said the "recruitment" provision was "'an egregious form of content discrimination' that punishes speech based on 'the opinion or perspective of the speaker.'"
Gibbons added that "public advocacy, information-sharing, and counseling" about obtaining legal abortions outside of Tennessee were protected forms of speech.
Between the lines: Gibbons, who heard the case in Nashville's federal district court, previously served as a judge on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. She was appointed by former President George W. Bush.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Los Angeles Times
39 minutes ago
- Los Angeles Times
Mailbag: O.C. student alarmed over proposed education funding cuts
I am a high school student and I am here this week in the ACLU National Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C. to get a sense of how the law of the land extends throughout this country. That's why I became so alarmed to read that the U.S. Supreme Court has paved the way for mass layoffs at the Department of Education and the Trump administration has announced its intention to close it. In its functions, this department ensures just funding, the protection of civil rights and the support of special needs children. It would be the students in lower-resourced communities, many of whom are in my own community, Santa Ana, who would most bear the brunt of it being broken apart. Without federal action, there is a fear that educational justice will be left behind. This is not an abstract issue to me. It affects my peers, my educators and my future. I strongly encourage leaders and communities to give this plan the thumbs down and demand a public, regulated and equitable education system. Sahib GrewalSanta Ana I've been participating in Indivisible protests near my home here in Huntington Beach for several months. As a person in my 70s and a retired high school American government teacher, I've been greatly affected by America's drift toward authoritarianism since the reelection of Donald Trump as president. Thus, I need to be out there — for myself but also in defense of the lessons I taught in my classroom about the inviolability of Constitutional law and the Bill of Rights. Each week, I stand on the curb with my sign that reads 'This is not normal.' Horns are honked in support and fingers are thrust in the air in opposition. I even had one young man in a pickup pull over to the curb where I was standing and tell me to 'go back to the senior citizens' home.' That one hurt, but, thankfully, this is a free country where the 1st Amendment protects his free speech. Then, recently, the vituperative responses crossed a line for me. First, a young father drove by angrily throwing an obscene gesture towards the protesters as his small daughter seated in a child's seat looked on. Then, a little later, a car drove past with a little boy, maybe 10 years old, making an obscene gesture out of the back seat of the car toward the protest. I suspect he was emulating his dad (or his mom). Tragically, the breakdown of civility and civil discourse would appear to be destined to last for generations. Parents would do well to remember that the kids are watching how we handle this national crisis. Lorraine GayerHuntington Beach Since Donald Trump took the oath of office last January, I have read and reread the inscription at the Statue of Liberty several times. In part, it reads: '… A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name Mother of silent lips. 'Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of your teeming shore...' It's not surprising that many artists are now depicting the Mother of Exiles — the Statue of Liberty — kneeling, her face hidden in her hands. Today's America, which is marked by presidential attacks on judges, law firms, and the judicial system itself, stands sharply at odds with this nation's enduring symbol of freedom. Equally troubling are the White House-approved ICE raids targeting communities of color. Simply put, these raids are designed to inflict cruelty. If you believe these raids will end soon, you're mistaken. ICE agents, equipped with the names, addresses, and phone numbers of over 79 million Medicaid recipients, have unprecedented reach into private homes — day or night. It won't matter where you live in Orange County, if agents determine you should be deported, it's only a matter of time before they will start pounding on your door. The rule of law, freedom of speech, and the right to peaceful protest have been fundamental to American democracy since its inception. Anyone who has visited the Statue of Liberty knows it represents more than decency; it serves as a powerful reminder that freedom is always worth protecting, no matter which way the political winds blow. If you ask me, today this principle is more crucial than ever. Denny FreidenrichLaguna Beach Re: 'Mariachi Nationals Summer Institute plays on in Anaheim, despite loss of NEA funding,' July 20. I just read the piece to my dad; we are blown away. Thank you for covering our annual camp. Having support from local partners such as TimesOC and Los Angeles Times is so important to continuing first, the folk genre itself, and second, exposure to donors who can help bring our goals to life. José Hernandez Newport Beach
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
After accusing Obama of treason, Trump now says the former president 'owes me big'
Donald Trump has been intensely focused on Barack Obama in recent days, accusing his Democratic predecessor of "treason." Now the current president is saying the former president "owes" him. "He owes me, Obama owes me big," Trump said July 25 while speaking to reporters outside the White House before departing on a trip to Scotland. Obama's debt to Trump in the current president's mind? The fact that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that presidents have immunity from criminal prosecution for official acts in office. The ruling came in a case involving Trump's alleged efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Struggling to shake off questions about his administration's handling of the Jeffrey Epstein case, Trump has focused lately on leveling allegations against Obama. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard alleged in a press briefing that the Obama administration promoted a 'contrived narrative' that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help Trump. Gabbard released declassified documents she said support her claims of Obama's "treasonous conspiracy" to undermine Trump. The Justice Department also announced the formation of a 'Strike Force' that would 'investigate potential next legal steps' stemming from Gabbard's disclosures. Russia attempted to interfere in the 2016 presidential election in favor of Trump, according to former Special Counsel Robert Mueller's 2019 final report and a 2020 bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee assessment. Obama's office pointed to the Senate report in responding to Gabbard's claims. 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes," Obama's office said in a statement on July 22. 'These findings were affirmed in a 2020 report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, led by then-Chairman Marco Rubio.' Trump had long said the investigations into his first White House campaign and its connections with Moscow are a hoax. Before departing for Scotland, Trump claimed Obama committed "criminal acts" but "he has immunity" from prosecution. 'It probably helps him a lot, probably helps him a lot the immunity ruling," Trump said. Trump has faced intense backlash since the Department of Justice released a memo July 7 attempting to close the book on the Epstein case. Epstein died in jail in 2019 while awaiting trial on charges of sex trafficking minors. The memo supported the idea that Epstein died by suicide and said investigators did not find a "client list," dispelling conspiracy theories about the case. Obama's office said Trump's focus on the former president is a "weak attempt at distraction." 'Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," Obama's office said in the July 22 statement. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one." Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Lopez: Trump's order on homelessness gets it all wrong, and here's why
President Trump has the answer to homelessness. Forcibly clear the streets. On Thursday, he signed an executive order to address 'endemic vagrancy' and end 'crime and disorder on our streets.' He called for the use of 'civil commitments' to get those who suffer from mental illness or addiction into 'humane treatment.' This comes after last year's U.S. Supreme Court ruling making it legal for cities to punish people for being homeless, even if they have nowhere to go. There's some truth in what he says, and California's record on housing and homelessness is ripe for criticism. I've watched too many people suffer from addiction and mental illness and asked why the help is so slow to arrive. But I also know there are no simple answers for either crisis, and bluster is no substitute for desperately needed resources. Like a lot of what Trump does, this is another case of grandstanding. In the meantime, the Washington Post reported Thursday that the "Trump administration has slashed more than $1 billion in COVID-era grants administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and is proposing to slash hundreds of millions more in agency grants." As it happens, I was in the middle of a column on the latest Los Angeles homeless count when news of Trump's executive order broke. I had just spent time with two homeless women to hear about their predicaments, and none of what Trump is proposing comes close to addressing their needs, which are tragically commonplace. Namely, they're living in poverty and can't afford a place to live. In his executive order, Trump said that 'nearly two-thirds of homeless individuals report having used hard drugs … in their lifetimes. An equally large share of homeless individuals reported suffering from mental health conditions.' I don't know where he got those numbers, but truth and accuracy are not hallmarks of this administration. Read more: 'Very aggressive treatment' on the streets of Skid Row from a 'Renegade M.D.' No doubt, addiction and mental illness are significant factors, and more intervention is needed. But that's more complicated than he thinks, especially given the practical and legal issues surrounding coercive treatment — and it's not going to solve the problem. When the latest homeless count in Los Angeles was released, a slight decline from a year ago was regarded by many as a positive sign. But when Eli Veitzer of Jewish Family Service L.A. dug into the numbers, he found something both unsurprising and deeply disturbing. The number of homeless people 65 and older hadn't gone down. It had surged, in both the city and county of Los Angeles. 'This isn't new this year. It's a trend over the last couple of years,' said Veitzer, whose nonprofit provides meals, housing assistance and various other services to clients. 'It's meaningful, and it's real, and these people are at the highest risk of mortality while they're on the streets.' The numbers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed a 3.4% decrease in the total homeless population in the city, but a 17.6% increase among those 65 and older. The county numbers showed a 3.99% decrease overall, but an 8.59% increase in the 65 and older group. In the city, the increase over two years was from 3,427 in 2023 to 4,680 this year — up 37%. Reliable research has shown that among older adults who become homeless, the primary reason is the combination of poverty and high housing costs, rather than mental illness or addiction. 'They or their spouse lost their job, they or their spouse got sick, their marriage broke up or their spouse or parent died,' Dr. Margot Kushel of UC San Francisco's Homelessness and Housing Initiative was telling me several hours before Trump's executive order was issued. Her team's landmark study, released two years ago (and covered by my colleague Anita Chabria), found that nearly half the state's homeless residents were 50 and older, and that participants in the study reported a median monthly household income of $960. 'The results … confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,' Kushel said at the time. Among the older population, Veitzer said, the jump in homelessness comes against the backdrop of federal and local budget cuts that will make it harder to reverse the trend. And harder for nonprofits, which rely in part on public funding, to keep providing group meals, home-delivered meals, transportation, social services and housing support. 'Every provider I've talked to in the city of L.A. is cutting meal programs,' Veitzer said. 'We're going to have to close two of our 13 meal sites, and last year we closed three. We used to have 16, and now we're down to 11.' On Wednesday, I went to one of the sites that's still up and running on Santa Monica Boulevard, just west of the 405, and met Jane Jefferies, 69. She told me she's been camping in her vehicle since February when living with her brother became impossible for various reasons. She now pulls into a Safe Parking L.A. lot each night to bed down. Jefferies said she collects about $1,400 a month in Social Security, which isn't enough to get her into an apartment. At the senior center, she uses her own equipment to make buttons that she sells on the Venice boardwalk, where she can make up to $200 on a good weekend. But that's still not enough to cover the cost of housing, she told me, and she's given up on government help. 'All the funding has been cut, and I don't know if it's because a lot of the city and state funding is subsidized by the federal government. We all know Trump hates California,' she said. As Veitzer put it: 'There's nowhere near enough low-income senior housing in L.A. County. Wait lists open up periodically," with far more applicants than housing units. "And then they close.' His agency delivers a daily meal to Vancie Davis, 73, who lives in a van at Penmar Park in Venice. Her next-door neighbor is her son, Thomas Williamson, 51, who lives in his car. Davis was in the front seat of the van when I arrived, hugging her dog, Heart. Her left leg was amputated below the knee two years ago because of an infection, she told me. Davis said she and another son were living in a trailer in Oregon, but the owner shut off the utilities and changed the locks. She said she reached out to Williamson, who told her, 'I've got a van for you, so you'll have a place to live, but it's going to be rough. And it is. It's very, very rough.' I've heard so many variations of stories like these over the years, I've lost count. The magnitude that exists in the wealthiest nation in history is a disgrace, and a sad commentary on an economic system and public policy that have served to widen, rather than narrow, the inequity gap. On Thursday, Trump's executive order on homelessness grabbed headlines but will do nothing for Jane Jefferies or Vancie Davis and for thousands like them. We know the interventions that can work, Kushel said, but with deep cuts in the works, we're moving in the wrong direction. Davis' son Thomas told Times photographer Genaro Molina about another person who lives in a vehicle and has been a neighbor of theirs in the parking lot. She wasn't there Wednesday, but we'll check back. It's a 91-year-old woman. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times. Solve the daily Crossword
