Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Strict State Abortion Laws Drawing National Attention As City-Level Rules Skate Under Radar
The ACLU of Tennessee filed a lawsuit against a Nashville suburb Wednesday to stop a zoning ordinance that effectively bans surgical abortions within the city鈥檚 borders, an antiabortion tactic that is putting town councils on the front lines of one of the most polarizing issues in American life. The suit, joined by the national ACLU and filed on behalf of the nonprofit national women鈥檚 clinic Carafem, calls the Mount Juliet City Commission鈥檚 zoning ordinance 鈥渦nconstitutional.鈥 The ordinance is part of 鈥渢he state鈥檚 relentless attack on abortion rights, enacting a multitude of restrictions designed to shutter clinics that have provided safe and affordable abortion care and impose unconscionable obstacles,鈥 the lawsuit states. (Wax-Thibodeaux and Cha, 12/18)
A lawsuit has been filed against Mt. Juliet by the ACLU, ACLU of Tennessee and a law firm over the city's zoning ordinance aimed at restricting surgical abortion clinics. The lawsuit is on behalf of carafem, a national abortion provider that opened a clinic in Mt. Juliet on Crossings Circle near Providence Marketplace on March 1. (Humbles, 12/18)