Tennessee considers a bill that could impose the death penalty on women who have abortions,sparking outrage and debateacross the state.
Two Republican lawmakers are pushing to allow thedeath penalty for women who undergo abortions. The proposed amendment, linked toHouse Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738, aims to treat fetal homicide as 'murder,' with penalties including life imprisonment, life without parole, and potentially, the death penalty.
The bill remains in committee and has yet to be scheduled for a vote.
The legislation would remove existing protections for pregnant women. It would equate harm done to an unborn child with assault on a person 'born alive,'effectively criminalisingalmost all abortions.
The bill explicitly excludes spontaneous miscarriages and unintentional deaths after medical procedures aimed at saving the mother's or infant's life. However, other exceptions remain vague. Prosecutions for women involved in illegal abortions could potentially be retroactive, though the bill currently prohibits such prosecutions before it becomes law.
If approved, the bill would take effect from July 1 this year.
Support for the bill comes from unexpected corners.
Clint Pressley, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, endorsed it publicly.
I am glad to support HB 570 and SB 738, two bills in the Tennessee legislature that would protect every preborn child in Tennessee from abortion by providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws. By protecting the lives of preborn children with the same laws that…
'I am glad to support HB 570 and SB 738, two bills in the Tennessee legislature that would protect every preborn child in Tennessee from abortion by providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws,'he wrote on X, adding, 'By protecting the lives of preborn children with the same laws that protect people who are born, we are simply loving our neighbors in the womb as ourselves.'
Source: International Business Times UK
