Mount Juliet Cannot Ban Surgical Abortions

On May 1, Middle Tennessee Federal Judge, Eli Richardson, blocked the city of Mount Juliet from enforcing a zoning ordinance which required facilities that perform surgical abortions to be located in industrial zones. Judge Richardson is a 2018 appointee of President Trump.

Abortion profiteers, Carafem, opened in Mount Juliet in March of 2019 aborting babies by prescribing the abortion pill, RU 486, up to 11 weeks of pregnancy. More recently they have announced plans to kill unborn children with surgical abortions in the future.

The Mount Juliet Commission introduced codes limiting surgical abortions to industrial zones and approved the provisions on April 8, 2019. This prevented Carafem from expanding to surgical abortions. The ACLU of Tennessee and Carafem filed the lawsuit in Federal court against the city of Mount Juliet on December 18, 2019 claiming the zoning changes placed an "undue burden" on women seeking abortion in Tennessee.

Mount Juliet is now in the process of removing the zoning restrictions.

"The ruling underscores the importance of pursuing policies which can be upheld as constitutional rather than allowing for the possibility of establishing precedent in support of abortion rights," Tennessee Right to Life President Brian Harris said. "It is a grievous wrong to hurt women and kill the unborn, especially in a pro-life community that has made clear that they don't want abortions occurring there."

"Hopefully the citizens of Mount Juliet will continue to stand for life and promote policies and strategies that will practically benefit women, girls and unborn children."

Diana and our staff continue to consult daily with women considering abortion and offer real solutions. We are thankful to be here for these women and fighting for them and their unborn babies.

Media coverage: "Mount Juliet moves to lift zoning limits on surgical abortions now offered by carafem afer court order." The Tennessean, May 19, 2020