Two Tennessee organizations that provide information about how to get out-of-state abortions say the Tennessee attorney general’s office is demanding they turn over swaths of records with little justification.
The groups, Abortion Care Tennessee and Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, each filed lawsuits in Davidson County Chancery Court this month to have the demands set aside.
“This is an obvious effort to further a political agenda to ban abortion, intimidate patients and providers, and shut down Planned Parenthood health centers, while violating the privacy of patients who have sought sexual and reproductive health care,” Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi president and CEO Ashley Coffield said in a news
release.
Abortion Care Tennessee’s executive director Julie Edwards, identified simply as Jules in a news release, said the group “will not be intimidated into silence.”
“Everyone should have a right to information about all of their pregnancy options,” Jules said.
Phil Buehler, press secretary for the attorney general's office, said the 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." The office gathers facts and determines whether "further steps are necessary," Buehler said. The office will not comment on specifics and will respond in court, Buehler said.
The attorney general's office sent both organizations a request for information on Sept. 3, saying it believed the groups had violated consumer protection and other laws. The requests did not explain why the office thought they had violated the law, the groups said.
In each case, the attorney general's office demanded “all documents and communications relating to” more than a dozen topics, including things like “Any Mail-Order Abortion Pill Provider” and “events You sponsored, hosted, or otherwise were involved with in any way relating to Abortion Pills.”
The office asked the groups to identify anyone “you assisted in obtaining Abortion Pills via the mail,” according to court filings. Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi said the attorney general's office also demanded it disclose the identity of all minors it provided with gender transition care since July 1, 2023.
Neither organization provides abortions or sells pills to end a pregnancy. Telling people how to get a legal abortion is protected by the First Amendment, courts have ruled. And in July 2025, 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Julia Smith Gibbons ruled that people who obtain abortion medication drugs "during a telehealth visit with an out-of-state doctor could lawfully take them," Abortion Care Tennessee noted.
Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi says it has never provided gender affirming care to minors.
Last week, the attorney general’s office lost its appeal in a related court case trying to defend a state law that criminalizes “recruiting” minors for an out-of-state abortion. Federal judges ruled the law unconstitutionally prohibited speech protected by the First Amendment, like speaking to a pregnant minor about health care options.
Abortion Care Tennessee, whose board member Rachel Welty is part of the abortion “recruitment” lawsuit, believes the attorney general's office is retaliating against the organization for its advocacy and successful litigation.
The group called the request for information “a retaliatory effort to intimidate, punish, and heap expense on protected speech by an abortion fund whose board member prevailed against the Respondent.”
The groups give numerous reasons the requests for information should be thrown out, arguing they violate the First Amendment and demand private health information. They also note that the Tennessee Consumer Protection Act only governs trade and commerce, which neither group is engaged in.
Nashville attorneys Daniel Horwitz, Sarah Martin and Laura Cantwell represent Abortion Care Tennessee. Vanessa Pai-Thompson and Jennifer Sandman from the Planned Parenthood Federation of America represent the Tennessee and North Mississippi chapter along with Nashville attorneys Rascoe Dean, Christopher Sabis, Micah Bradley and Maria Santangelo.
Have questions about the justice system? Evan Mealins is the justice reporter for The Tennessean. Contact him with questions, tips or story ideas at emealins@tennessean.com.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee abortion education groups sue over records demand
