A federal circuit court on Thursday upheld the constitutionality of a Tennessee law that requires doctors to provide pregnant women seeking an abortion with materials about the safety of the procedure and have them wait two days before performing the procedure. “Tennessee’s 48-hour abortion waiting period is facially constitutional. The law is supported by a rational basis, and it is not a substantial obstacle to abortion for a large fraction of women seeking pre-viability abortions in Tennessee,” Circuit Court Judge Amul Thapar wrote in an opinion. The decision is the latest development in a decades-long legal saga surrounding the 48-hour rule. The state first enacted the law in 1978, but a federal court blocked it based on a case that predated Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a case in which the Supreme Court upheld a 24-hour waiting period for an abortion. After Planned Parenthood v. Casey was decided, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled in 2000 …