Tennessee Bills Face Opposition On Abortion Issue

The Tennessee House and Senate are sponsoring bills criminalizing women who seek abortions – image courtesy of Vecteezy.com.

The Tennessee House and Senate are sponsoring bills that would criminalize abortion. As abhorrent as abortion is, to criminalize those women who do have abortions is wrong. Let’s take a look.

Tennessee Bills HB 570 and SB 738

Tennessee lawmakers considered an amendment to HB570/SB738 that would allow prosecutors to charge women who obtain abortions with fetal homicide, carrying penalties up to life imprisonment or even the death penalty. The measure has generated significant bipartisan resistance, and legislative leaders have signaled it is unlikely to advance in its current form. Even within Tennessee’s Republican caucus, key figures—including the House Speaker—have expressed that charging women with homicide is not acceptable. The Senate sponsor has acknowledged he does not currently have the votes. We can thank God for that.

Are Other States Proposing Similar Bills?

The Tennessee proposal to criminalize women who obtain abortions is unusual but part of a broader, emerging pattern in several states. It is not the norm in current post‑Dobbs abortion policy, but it is no longer isolated, and similar bills have appeared across the country. While the bills that explicitly punish the pregnant woman—rather than providers—remain rare, they are increasingly introduced in state legislatures.

TIME Magazine reports that for the 2025 legislative session, at least 10 states saw bills that would allow authorities to charge people who obtain abortions with homicide:

Georgia
Idaho
Indiana
Iowa
Kentucky
Missouri
North Dakota
Oklahoma
South Carolina
Texas

Many of these bills include fetal‑personhood language and propose removing long‑standing protections that prevent the prosecution of pregnant women. Some have already failed, but advocates note that the frequency of introduction is rising.

Additional States with More Recent “Abortion as Homicide” Proposals

Illinois (classified abortion as homicide; stalled).
South Dakota (fetal homicide classification; blocked in committee).

Are These Bills Strictly a Punitive Measure or a Deterrent?

Two Tennessee bills in progress would criminalize abortion – image courtesy of Vecteezy.com.

Legalizing abortion as homicide functions far more as a punitive mechanism than a proven deterrent, based on what legal scholars, reproductive‑rights analysts, and state‑level legislative reviews report. The states considering these bills—such as South Carolina, Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Indiana—frame them as homicide statutes, but there is no evidence base showing that criminalizing pregnant women reduces abortion rates. Instead, the pattern points toward punishment and control.

Supporters often claim that homicide classification is meant to “protect unborn life” by creating the strongest possible legal consequences. But the bills themselves offer no deterrence analysis, no criminological justification, and no evidence that women facing homicide charges would reduce abortion incidence.

The Catholic View

Jesus’ teachings consistently place the vulnerable person at the center of moral evaluation. Abortion is abhorrent and a grave moral wrong. Criminalizing women who have abortions is also a grave moral wrong. Holding both truths together is not a contradiction; it reflects a deeper moral clarity about who is vulnerable and what justice requires. Abortion ends a developing human life, which many Christians understand as a profound violation of the dignity God gives every person. But laws that prosecute the woman—especially as a homicide offender—misidentify the moral target and create new injustices:

Moral gravity does not justify misdirected punishment. Scripture repeatedly condemns punishing the vulnerable for systemic failures created by others.
Justice must be proportionate, merciful, and aimed at restoration.

Criminalizing the woman does not restore life, protect future children, or heal the conditions that led to the crisis:

It punishes the person in crisis, not the conditions that created the crisis: Women seeking abortions often face abandonment, poverty, medical fear, or coercion. Criminalizing them treats desperation as criminal intent.
It creates fear around pregnancy, miscarriage, and medical care: Homicide‑based abortion laws inevitably lead to:
- Investigations of miscarriages.
- Fear of seeking prenatal care.
- Suspicion toward women experiencing pregnancy complications.
- These contradict any ethic of compassion or protection.
It shifts responsibility away from those with greater power: Partners who pressured, abandoned, or abused her are untouched. Systems that failed her—healthcare, economic support, community—remain unaddressed. Criminalization targets the least powerful actor in the situation.
It undermines the credibility of the pro-life witness: When the movement’s moral center is the dignity of life, punishing women signals a shift toward retribution rather than restoration.