For Immediate Release

The National Center for Youth Law (NCYL) is calling on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to honor young people’s Constitutional rights and reject a harmful Tennessee law that bans abortion support and endangers young people’s health and well-being.

On Feb. 4, NCYL submitted an amicus brief to the court in the case of Welty v. Dunaway, a lawsuit that challenges the constitutionality of a Tennessee statute that seeks to prevent youth from accessing information about abortion care and its legality in other states.

The law threatens criminal prosecution when a trusted adult provides pregnant youth with information about their legal reproductive options. The law was challenged by two professionals who work with youth, alleging that the statute violates their First Amendment rights. The district court agreed, finding the law impermissibly encroaches on constitutionally protected speech, and the state appealed to the Sixth Circuit. 

NCYL’s brief brings an important youth perspective to the court. As explained in the brief, Tennessee’s law not only violates the plaintiff’s constitutional rights, it also violates young people’s First Amendment rights by restricting their ability to access accurate information about safe and legal reproductive health care.

“Young people, like all people, have constitutional rights. Just because they are under age 18 doesn’t mean they aren’t protected by the Constitution,” said Hannah Benton-Eidsath, Co-Director of Litigation at NCYL. “NCYL will always fight to protect young people’s right to information, to be heard, and to make informed choices about their health in safe and supportive spaces with trusted adults.”

NCYL’s brief also explains why this restriction fails to protect young people in any way and will cause direct physical, emotional, and financial harm to them.

“Among other things, the vague and punitive law is likely to delay access to time-sensitive care and deter trusted adults, like advocates and providers, from offering guidance, increasing the risk that youth will receive misleading or unsafe information,” said NCYL Attorney Nina Monfredo.

Compounding matters, these harms will fall disproportionately on youth who already face systemic barriers to health information and care, including youth of color, low-income youth, and youth in the foster system.

“Youth in the foster system already face disproportionately poor reproductive health outcomes as a result of these barriers to care and information,” said Cindy Cruz, Director of NCYL’s Reproductive Health Equity Project for Foster Youth, “Tennessee’s law, which limits access to information about legal health services, places marginalized youth at even greater risk of suffering health complications.”

NCYL urges the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to affirm young people’s rights and reject a law that silences trusted voices and endangers youth, particularly those who are already most marginalized.

NCYL’s amicus brief was prepared with legal support from Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.

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The National Center for Youth Law centers youth through research, community collaboration, impact litigation, and policy advocacy that fundamentally transforms our nation’s approach to education, health, immigration, foster care, and youth justice. Our vision is a world in which every child thrives and has a full and fair opportunity to achieve the future they envision for themselves.