IMMEDIATE ANTI-ABORTION LAWS SOUGHT BY TN ATTORNEY GENERAL MAKING ABORTION A CLASS C FELONY TO PROVIDERS
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Tennessee may place criminal charges on abortion providers quicker than expected after the Attorney General asked to immediately implement the state’s anti-abortion laws, instead of waiting 30 days.
The state’s Attorney General, Herbert Slatery III, asked the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to allow the state’s anti-abortion laws to go into effect as soon as possible. Those laws were originally written with a 30-day waiting period before they would take effect, starting the day that Roe v. Wade is overturned.
The law would effectively criminalize anyone who provides abortion services in the state. The law makes it a Class C felony to provide abortion treatments, and takes away the license of any medical professional who administers such treatments.
Because it charges people with a felony, they also can lose their voting rights and face consequences like prison time or fines.
It also specifically does not try to punish women who receive abortion treatments. It allows abortion treatments if the mother’s life would be at risk, but specifically excludes cases where a provider treats someone by giving them an abortion because they could attempt to kill themselves. Abortions in those cases would be illegal.
