Tennessee Code Annotated
Tenn. Code Ann. § 37-10-301 (2026)
Legislative intent and findings
✓ current as of May 2026
- (a) It is the intent of the general assembly in enacting this parental consent provision to further the important and compelling state interests of:
- (1) Protecting minors against their own immaturity;
- (2) Fostering the family structure and preserving it as a viable social unit; and
- (3) Protecting the rights of parents to rear children who are members of their household.
- (b) The general assembly finds as fact that:
- (1) Immature minors often lack the ability to make fully informed choices that take into account of both immediate and long-range consequences;
- (2) The medical, emotional, and psychological consequences of abortion are serious and can be lasting, particularly when the patient is immature;
- (3) The capacity to become pregnant and the capacity for mature judgment concerning the wisdom of an abortion are not necessarily related;
- (4) Parents ordinarily possess information essential to a physician's exercise of the physician's best medical judgment concerning the child; and
- (5) Parents who are aware that their minor daughter has had an abortion may better ensure that their daughter receives adequate medical attention after the abortion.
- (c) The general assembly further finds that parental consultation is usually desirable and in the best interests of the minor.
Acts 1988, ch. 929, § 1.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 7
cases, 1989–2004 · leading case: Planned Parenthood Ass'n v. McWherter, 716 F. Supp. 1064 (M.D. Tenn. 1989).
Planned Parenthood Ass'n v. McWherter, 716 F. Supp. 1064 (M.D. Tenn. 1989). “Pending before the Court is plaintiffs’ motion for declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent defendants from enforcing the Parental Consent for Abortions by Minors Act, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 37-10-301 through 37-10-307 (Supp.”
Memphis Planned Parenthood, Inc. v. Donald Sundquist, Governor of the State of Tennessee, & John Knox Walkup, Attorney Gen., 175 F.3d 456 (6th Cir. 1999). “§§ 37-10-301 to -307 and Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 24 (collectively “the Act”) 1 the majority engages in an inappropriate analysis under an erroneous standard of review, thereby disavowing its obligation to follow the law and Supreme Court precedent.”
Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Nashville, Inc. v. McWherter, 817 S.W.2d 13 (Tenn. 1991). “§ 39-15-202(f), on the earlier [1988] consent statute, Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 37-10-301 through 307.”
Planned Parenthood of Middle Tennessee v. Sundquist, 38 S.W.3d 1 (Tenn. 2000). “1989) (repealed) (now codified at Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 37-10-301 through -307); and the provision banning post-viability abortions except to preserve the life or health of the woman, Tenn.”
Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Tennessee v. Don Sundquist, Governor of the State of Tennessee (Tenn. Ct. App. 2004). “868 (codified at Tenn. Code Ann. §§ 37-10-301 , -307 (Supp.”
Memphis Planned Parenthood, Inc. v. Sundquist, 2 F. Supp. 2d 997 (M.D. Tenn. 1997). “Background This case involves a challenge to Tennessee’s Parental Consent for Abortions by Minors Act of 1995, Tenn.Code Ann. §§ 37-10-301 to -307 (hereinafter “the Act”).”
Planned Parenthood Ass'n of Nashville, Inc. v. McWherter, 923 F.2d 474 (6th Cir. 1991). “” Petitioner appeals to the United States Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit, the declaration of the United States District Court, Middle District of Tennessee, that the Parental Consent for Abortions by Minors Act, Tenn.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.