Free Speech Conscience

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a block on a provision of a Tennessee law that made it a felony to recruit a minor for an out-of-state abortion without parental permission, ruling that it violated the plaintiffs' First Amendment right to free speech. The court's 2-1 decision maintained the ruling that the law criminalized speech encouraging abortion but did not regulate speech encouraging carrying a pregnancy to term, while other provisions of the law prohibiting transporting a minor out of state for an abortion remained in effect.