A Tennessee nonprofit that gives information on out-of-state abortions and abortion pills says it’s “under attack” and is seeking protection in court.
Earlier this month, Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti sent a request for information to Abortion Care Tennessee and said the state was investigating the group’s “advertisement and promotion of mail-order abortion-inducing drugs.” The request asks for “all documents and communications” related to abortion pills and anyone who’s provided or received them.
In response, the organization, known as ACT, took the matter to court this week with a 330-page filing asking for a protective order. In it, ACT stresses that the organization has never provided abortions or abortion pills; rather, it shares information, which it argues is constitutionally protected free speech under the First Amendment.
The abortion group’s filing also refers back to an earlier court fight that an ACT board member won, calling this month’s request from the attorney general “a retaliatory effort to intimidate, punish, and heap expense on protected speech” by the group. The petition for a protective order asks the chancery court to set aside the state’s request for information altogether, or, failing that, to narrow it, calling it “vastly overbroad” and unreasonable.
Reached for comment on Wednesday, the AG’s office declined to get into specifics and gave this statement:
“This office has the authority to request information when there may be a violation of a state law that we enforce, and we routinely do so. A request for information lets us gather facts to determine whether further steps are necessary. We will not comment on any specific matter and will respond to any legal filings through the court.”
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WPLN’s Marianna Bacallao contributed to this report.
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