FRANKFORT, Ky. (April 16, 2021) – Attorney General Daniel Cameron led a coalition of 21 state attorneys general in filing an amicus brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Tennessee to enforce its abortion waiting-period law while a lower court reviews the case.
After the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit declined to stay a District Court’s ruling invalidating Tennessee’s abortion waiting-period law, Tennessee asked the full appellate court to hear the case, and the court agreed to do so.
Since then, Tennessee has asked the U. S. Supreme Court to permit its law to take effect while the Sixth Circuit considers the case. The coalition’s brief supports Tennessee’s request.
“States have the sovereign authority to enact laws that promote life and protect the health and well-being of pregnant women,” said Attorney General Cameron. “We filed this brief asking the U.S. Supreme Court to allow Tennessee’s law to stand and to protect the right of each state to regulate abortion.”
In their brief, the coalition argues that many states have adopted waiting-period laws since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Pennsylvania’s abortion waiting-period law in Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey nearly 30 years ago. By prohibiting Tennessee from enforcing its law, the Sixth Circuit’s decision runs contrary to that precedent and threatens the legitimacy of numerous waiting-period laws in other states.
The brief also contends that the Sixth Circuit’s ruling disrupts the delicate balance of power between federal and state governments and negates Tennessee’s sovereign power to enact reasonable measures regulating abortion.
Attorney General Cameron led the brief and is joined by attorneys general from Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Caronia, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, and West Virginia in signing the brief.
To view a copy of the amicus brief click here.