Shivangi Prakash–
Published on August 06,2021 10:55 IST
A Federal Appeals Court upheld Tennessee’s 48-hour waiting period for women seeking abortions, ruling that opponents had failed to show that the measure had materially burdened a woman.
The ruling comes after a lower Federal Court last year ruled down a 2015 legislation, requiring women seeking abortions to visit a clinic twice; once for mandated counseling and then again at least 48 hours later for the abortion.
Judge Bernard Freidman of the United States District Court for the District of Columbia remarked at the time that the two-visit rule caused logistical issues for patients and facilities, potentially delaying abortions.
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, on the other hand, disagreed and ruled with the State’s Attorneys, who contended that the legislation could only be struck down if it stopped a significant number of women from getting abortions.
Patients must visit a provider twice and complete State-mandated counseling, according to the statute.
The Center for Reproductive Rights said in a statement that the law made abortion more difficult for Tennesseans.
“Today’s decision completely ignores the Trial Court’s clear finding that this law imposes an extreme burden on Tennesseans seeking an abortion,” said Nancy Northup, President & CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights.
Alexis McGill Johnson, president, and CEO of, Planned Parenthood Federation of America said the law violates patients’ constitutional rights.
McGill Johnson said “Planned Parenthood will continue fighting alongside our partners to ensure every person can access safe, legal abortion services — without medically unnecessary barriers. This isn’t over.”
According to the Guttmacher Institute, a research organization that supports reproductive rights, more than 20 States require patients to wait a certain length of time, often 24 hours, between counseling and abortion surgery.
The various Republican-led States, including Tennessee, have implemented anti-abortion legislation in the hopes that the conservative-leaning United States Supreme Court will eventually overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade landmark verdict, which secured the constitutional right to abortion.
Tennessee is now awaiting a decision from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on a comprehensive abortion ban that forbids the operation as early as six weeks of pregnancy.
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