TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Aug 24, 2022

Tennessee’s full abortion ban will go into effect tomorrow, following the 30-day waiting period under the state’s trigger law. Uncertainties remain in a post-Roe world, WSMV reports, with some physicians questioning their rights under the new law. Immediately after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling returning abortion authority to the states, Tennessee’s six-week abortion ban went into effect. That ban will be superseded tomorrow by the Human Life Protection Act. Memphis defense attorney Blake Ballin with Ballin, Ballin & Fishman has been advising doctors. He says the law does not provide an exception for any kind of situation, whether it be for rape, incest or child abuse. The provision related to a mother’s life is an affirmative defense to criminal charges. He is telling doctors if they perform an abortion they could be charged with a felony. It would then be their responsibility to prove the life of the mother was in jeopardy.