Tennessee AG Cooper Says 'Partial-Birth' Abortion Law Would Be 'Constitutionally Suspect'

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 07 Mar 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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Tennessee Attorney General Bob Cooper (D) in a recent opinion said if the state adopts a law that would ban so-called "partial-birth" abortions similar to a federal ban on the procedure, the law would be "constitutionally suspect" under the Tennessee Constitution, the AP/Jackson Sun reports. According to Cooper, the constitutionality of such a law would be questionable because it would "lack an exception for the preservation of the woman's health." The opinion has "left legislators at odds over whether they can impose restrictions on abortions without violating the state's constitution," the AP/Sun reports.

The state Supreme Court in 2000 invalidated state laws that required a 48-hour waiting period before the procedure could be performed, clinics to provide detailed information about the procedure and all but first-term abortions to be performed in hospitals. Cooper wrote that state provisions requiring parental consent for minors seeking abortions would still be defensible under the current state constitution, "although the matter is not free from doubt."

Senate Democratic Caucus spokesperson Mark Brown said Cooper's opinion shows that abortion restrictions can be enacted without amending the constitution. "We don't understand why there are still factions out there that claim we have to amend Tennessee's Constitution to provide for common-sense restrictions on abortion," Brown added.

State Sen. Diane Black (R), who requested that Cooper issue an opinion, disagreed. "There is still a constitutional issue there," she said, adding, "I don't want to put this state back into the courtroom again." Black previously sponsored a joint resolution (SJR 127) that would have amended the state constitution to say that it does not guarantee the right to abortion or require state funding for abortion. The resolution passed the state Senate in December 2007 but failed in a House subcommittee last month, the AP/Sun reports (Johnson, AP/Jackson Sun, 3/4).

Cooper's opinion is available online (.pdf).

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