Phillips v. State (Formerly Blackmon v. State)
Plaintiffs, including patients who allege they were denied, or received delayed, medically necessary abortion care due to doctors’ confusion regarding the scope of the medical necessity exception in the state’s abortion ban, challenge that exception as violating state constitutional rights to life and equal protection and as unconstitutionally vague. A Tennessee trial court held the plaintiffs were likely to succeed on the merits as to each challenge, at least with respect to certain maternal medical conditions the parties agreed fall within the exception, and granted temporary relief declaring the exception to include those conditions. The court, however, found that it lacked jurisdiction to enjoin criminal enforcement of the abortion ban against the plaintiffs physicians.
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In States with Abortion Bans, When Does a Medical Emergency Trigger an Exception?
Doctors have delayed life-saving care out of confusion over exceptions to strict abortion bans. State courts are being asked to clarify the laws.