Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee enacted the so-called "reason bans" earlier this year as part of a sweeping anti-abortion measure. However, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision will allow the state to enforce the reason bans while abortion rights groups continue their court battle against that law. The plaintiffs, which include Tennessee abortion providers being represented by reproductive rights groups, had argued the ban was improperly vague, but the court disagreed. Currently, more than a dozen states have similar reason bans in place. The rarity of the condition has prompted abortion rights groups to paint the Down syndrome bans as part of yet another thinly veiled effort by lawmakers to continue chipping away at a patient's right to an abortion.

Source: New Zealand Herald November 21, 2020 05:03 UTC