Overview
- Republican sponsors Rep. Jody Barrett and Sen. Mark Pody introduced amendments to HB 570/SB 738 to let prosecutors charge people who obtain abortions with fetal homicide.
- The proposal has been referred to the House Population Health Subcommittee and has not been scheduled for floor consideration.
- Fetal homicide in Tennessee carries potential sentences of life imprisonment, life without parole, or the death penalty, though Barrett says the amendment does not explicitly mention capital punishment.
- The text classifies harm to an unborn child the same as harm to a person born alive, removing additional legal protections for pregnant people beyond narrow life-of-the-mother exceptions.
- If enacted, the law would take effect July 1 and would not apply retroactively, and it has drawn endorsements from the Foundation to Abolish Abortion and Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley.