A three-judge panel on Thursday ruled that Tennessee doctors who provide emergency abortions to protect the life of the mother cannot have their medical licenses revoked or face other disciplinary actions while a lawsuit challenging the state’s sweeping abortion ban continues.
The ruling also outlined specific pregnancy-related conditions that would now qualify as “medical necessity exceptions” under the ban, which currently does not include exceptions for fetal anomalies or for victims of rape or incest.
“This lack of clarity is evidenced by the confusion and lack of consensus within the Tennessee medical community on the circumstances requiring necessary health- and life-saving abortion care,” the ruling stated. “The evidence presented underscores how serious, difficult, and complex these issues are and raises significant questions as to whether the medical necessity exception is sufficiently narrow to serve a compelling state interest.”
The problem with all “abortions are illegal except in cases where the mother’s life is at risk” laws is who gets to decide when the mother’s life is at sufficiently at risk?
Any pregnancy is a risk to the mother’s life to some extent. The only person who should be making the decision of how much risk it too much is the mother after an informed and private discussion with her doctor.
These stupid laws today make it so that even if it’s an emergency, any doctor performing an abortion is taking a risk that the state won’t agree it was an emergency (or perhaps that it wasn’t an emergency yet). That means that even in an emergency it gets left to the last minute where it’s high risk for everyone.
The only way to actually be pro-life and make abortions safe when it’s medically required. Is to make abortion legal and left as a decision between a woman and her doctor.