Tennessee attorney general drops effort to enforce two state pro-life measures

Tennessee’s attorney general has decided not to continue enforcing two pro-life measures in the state, due to their similarity to pro-life laws in Texas, which were struck down 5-3 by the Supreme Court of the United States in June 2016.

According to ABC News, one requirement was that abortionists obtain hospital admitting privileges, and the other required abortion clinics to meet ambulatory surgical center health and safety standards.

Three abortion centers brought lawsuits against the requirements, reports ABC News: Bristol Regional Women’s Center, The Women’s Center in Nashville and the Memphis Center for Reproductive Health. The state announced this week that another reason it has chosen not to enforce the laws is “to avoid the expense and utilization of resources on continued litigation.”

The Tennesseean notes that while the abortion facilities’ lawsuit “also includes a challenge to a 2015 requirement for women obtaining an abortion to undergo a 48-hour waiting period after obtaining counseling on the procedure,” the state will continue in its efforts to enforce this regulation.

When the Supreme Court decided in favor of Whole Woman’s Health in Whole Woman’s Health v. Hellerstedt last summer, the majority sided with an abortion conglomerate which has a long and disturbing history of health and safety violations, further putting women’s health at risk at substandard, noncompliant abortion facilities for the sake of preserving abortion access.