Bills that would treat abortion as murder have been proposed in several states. They have consistently failed, but some are still being considered.
California doctor indicted in Louisiana. Newsom suggests no extradition
A California doctor has been indicted for allegedly prescribing abortion pills in Louisiana, sparking a legal battle over the state’s abortion laws and interstate medical care.
A bill that would have charged women seeking abortions with murder, a crime punishable by the death penalty, failed miserably in Tennessee on March 10th.
House Bill 570, introduced by Rep. Jodi Barrett (R-Dixon), would eliminate current legal protections for pregnant women and classify harm to an unborn child as equivalent to assault on a person “born alive.” Women who undergo abortions can be charged with murder, which carries a life sentence or even the death penalty.
On March 10, the bill failed because no member of the House Population Subcommittee made a motion to have the bill heard. A riot ensued, and the committee chairman ordered the room to be evacuated.
The bill has divided abortion opponents and is the latest in a wave of similar bills across the country that have failed to become law. Israel Cook, state legislative counsel for the Reproductive Rights Center, said the bills demonstrate “the terrifying efforts of the anti-abortion movement to ban abortion.”
“I’m glad the Tennessee bill failed, but this type of bill should be taken seriously whether it passes this year or not,” Cook told USA TODAY. “Anti-abortion lawmakers are introducing this bill more and more repeatedly across the country in the hope that the public will eventually stop paying attention and encourage these efforts.”
Bills to treat abortion as murder in other states
Efforts to prosecute women who have abortions for murder began before the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade. In early 2022, a Texas woman was charged with murder after a “self-induced abortion,” even though state law exempted women from murder charges for abortions. A judge quickly dismissed the case against Lizelle Herrera, and she later filed suit against the prosecutors who had prosecuted her.
Immediately after the Texas charges, Louisiana lawmakers introduced a bill that would make abortion a homicide and allow the mother or anyone assisting in the abortion to be prosecuted. However, the bill faced backlash, was significantly watered down, and then died, local media reported.
Since the Roe bill was overturned in June 2022, legislation targeting pregnant women and doctors who perform abortions has accelerated, with bills introduced in the following year in states such as Arkansas, Kentucky, and South Carolina. According to President’s Justice, a group specializing in the rights of pregnant people, 15 states have introduced “abortion as murder” bills in the 2024-2025 legislative session, including 12 states that would make murder punishable by death.
These bills have consistently failed to pass, but seven states have introduced similar bills in 2026, including Kentucky, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Iowa, according to the Reproductive Rights Center. A similar bill in South Dakota has been delayed, according to local media.
This bill causes a rift among abortion opponents
Tennessee has some of the strictest anti-abortion laws in the country since the state’s “trigger ban” went into effect in 2022. The Human Life Protection Act prohibits all abortions from fertilization, with exceptions in cases of rape and incest. Narrow medical exceptions exist for ectopic and molar pregnancies, but exceptions exist for fatal fetal diagnoses. Abortion is a Class C felony in Tennessee, punishing doctors with up to 15 years in prison and fines.
In recent years, lawmakers also made it a crime in Tennessee for businesses and delivery services to fulfill orders for abortion pills by mail, made it a crime to help minors travel out of state for abortions without parental consent, and required school children to watch videos about fetal development.
But the bill, which would treat abortion as murder, has drawn opposition from both sides of the aisle, creating a rift among anti-abortion supporters.
Outside the chamber, a crowd of anti-abortion supporters, mostly bearded men, chanted the hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God” near the door of the committee chamber. They chanted hymns followed by sermons and raised their hands in worship.
On the other side of the group, a crowd of women demonstrating for abortion rights held bright pink signs and chanted, “Separate Church and State! Separate Church and State!”
Brian Gunter, president of the Louisiana anti-abortion group End Abortion Now, criticized the committee members. “These lawmakers will be held guilty before a holy God for failing to do justice to our children,” Gunter told The Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network.
Laura Messick, president of the Tennessee Pregnancy Center Network, said the anti-abortion movement is taking the wrong approach. Although the law does not stop the flow of abortion pills into the state, Messick and others are calling on the state to continue to crack down on access and “not punish women for taking readily available drugs.”
A bill that would allow women to be prosecuted was “a little shocking,” she said.
“There’s certainly a very real tension between the two sides in that we are very close to what we believe in, and we absolutely believe in the sanctity of human life and that we are created in the image of God,” Messick said.
“We certainly have the same core belief system. We disagree on how to proceed with aid,” she later added.
Messick is also the director of Portico Pregnancy Resource Center in Murfreesboro. The center “serves women with compassion and dignity” by providing practical resources, ultrasounds, and parenting classes to those in need. She said she hopes both sides of the abortion abolition debate “can find a way to work together without accusing each other of not being pro-life.”
Contributor: Chris Kenning, USA TODAY
