Trafficking Abuse

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.

In September 2026, a Sixth Circuit panel with judges appointed by Obama and Biden struck down Tennessee's law criminalizing adults recruiting, harboring, or transporting pregnant minors for abortions without parental consent, ruling it violated the First Amendment. The ruling criticized the law for criminalizing speech encouraging abortion while remaining silent on speech encouraging carrying a pregnancy to term, while Tennessee's ban on harboring or transporting minors for abortions remains in effect.