Tennessee Republicans Propose Bill Treating Abortion as Homicide and Imposing Death Penalty on Women

By Sam Barron | Monday, 23 February 2026 05:07 PM EST

Two Tennessee Republicans have proposed a bill that would classify abortion as a homicide, making women who undergo the procedure eligible for capital punishment.

The amendment to House Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738, introduced by state Reps. Jody Barrett and Mark Pody, states that women who have abortions could be charged with fetal homicide and sentenced to imprisonment or death. Women would not face prosecution if a “spontaneous miscarriage” occurs or if the “unintentional death of an unborn child” results from “undertaking lifesaving procedures” to save the mother’s life or the unborn child’s life, according to The Tennessean.

The legislation has garnered support from Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley and the Foundation to Abolish Abortion. Pressley stated on social media: “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.”

Tennessee’s current Human Life Protection Act bans all abortions from fertilization without exceptions for rape or incest. Performing an abortion in Tennessee carries a potential sentence of up to 15 years in prison, and it is unlawful to fulfill orders for abortion pills or assist minors traveling out of state for abortions without parental consent.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion reported over 5,000 telehealth abortions occurred in Tennessee in 2024, with more than 10,000 abortions provided by out-of-state clinicians based on Guttmacher Institute estimates. The group added: “Under this legislation, murdering anyone would be made illegal for everyone, ensuring that all humans made in the image of God are equally protected in accordance with the Tennessee Constitution, the United States Constitution, and the Law of God.”

State Rep. Monty Fritts, a gubernatorial candidate, endorsed the bill, calling abortion murder. “Murder is murder. I know that’s hard for people to hear, and I don’t mean to be hard with it, I promise,” he told The Tennessee Holler. Fritts has previously described abortion as a “capital crime because we have failed to identify that tiny little, jelly bean-sized baby as a human being. If we kill a human being, we have to say it is murder.”