REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsSept 12 (Reuters) - An abortion rights advocacy group filed lawsuits in three states on Tuesday on behalf of women who say they were denied abortions despite suffering life-threatening pregnancy complications.
The Center for Reproductive Rights sued on behalf of eight women and four doctors in Idaho, Tennessee and Oklahoma, three states that have passed some of the strictest abortion bans since the U.S. Supreme Court gutted federal abortion rights by overturning Roe v. Wade in 2022.
The lawsuits follow a similar case brought by the center in Texas, where a judge last month sided with five women who were denied abortions and exempted women experiencing pregnancy complications from Texas' stringent abortion ban.
The lawsuits in Idaho and Tennessee ask the state courts to clarify those states' legal exceptions for abortions in cases of medical emergencies, so that doctors may perform abortions when they deem them necessary without fear of prosecution.
The attorneys general for Tennessee and Idaho and Oklahoma Children's Hospital did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Persons:
Marc Hearron, Julie Murray, Evelyn Hockstein, Roe, Wade, Nicole Blackmon, Gabriella Borter, Colleen Jenkins, Rosalba O'Brien
Organizations:
Center for Reproductive Rights, United States Supreme, REUTERS, Reproductive Rights, Supreme, for Reproductive, Oklahoma Children's, Thomson
Locations:
Texas, Washington , U.S, Idaho , Tennessee, Oklahoma, U.S, Idaho, Tennessee