The Nation - News from July 2, 1989

A federal judge in Nashville has overturned a Tennessee law requiring girls age 17 or under to get their parents’ permission for an abortion. The national Planned Parenthood Federation and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee sought a preliminary injunction against the law. But U.S. District Judge John T. Nixon said there was no need for an injunction because the statute is “unconstitutionally vague on its face.” The law would have made it a misdemeanor for a doctor to perform an abortion on a minor without first obtaining written permission from her parents or guardian. It allows exceptions if the parents are divorced, if the girl wins a court waiver or if one parent cannot be found “within a reasonable time and manner.” Nixon said that phrase did not give the doctor “notice as to when his actions will violate the statute.”