TENNESSEE, USA — People who need an abortion will have to wait 48 hours in Tennessee starting Friday, after a decision from the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. The decision went into effect immediately, according to a release from officials.
A federal court struck down the waiting period law in October 2020, and the state's appeal of that decision is still pending. The Sixth Circuit Court decided Friday to suspend the federal court's decision while the appeal remains pending.
A three-judge panel of the appellate court also previously denied the state's request in February.
The law requires patients who need an abortion to make two trips to a provider and to wait at least two days for services after receiving in-person, state-mandated counseling.
In the October 2020 decision, Judge Bernard Friedman wrote that "the suggestion that women are overly emotional and must be required to cool off or calm down before having a medical procedure they have decided they want to have, and that they are constitutionally entitled to have, is highly insulting and paternalistic – and all the more so given that no such waiting periods apply to men."
Patients at health centers at the time of the ruling were also immediately blocked from receiving abortion services after Friday's decision. Waiting periods have also been passed in more than 25 states.
Advocates said that waiting period laws can have harsh consequences for people who face barriers to reproductive health care, such as people with low incomes, people living in rural areas and people in abusive relationships.