Legislators Debate Abortion as Murder
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Legislators Debate Abortion as Murder
By Shane Gilreath
SCN Contributing Editor
[email protected]
A long controversial issue has been brought to the forefront in Nashville, as a Central Tennessee legislator, Representative Jody Barrett, R, District 69, filed legislation that would treat abortion as a criminal homicide in the state.
Barrett filed the amendment to existing legislation – the Human Life Protection Act, which was supported in its initial phases by Senator Ken Yager and Representative Kelly Keisling -while arguing that the measure only seeks to protect unborn children under state law, which already enforces an abortion ban. Penalties to violating that law, however, currently only apply to physicians who perform abortive procedures. Should Barrett’s legislation be codified, it would extend criminal liability to expectant mothers.
“Murder should be murder,” Barrett said, “whether it’s a person in being or a person in utero.”
While many opponents have argued that the “death penalty” is on the table, Barrett’s bill does not appear to list such an action in the amendment’s text, but the legislator did acknowledge it could loom as a possibility.
“Do I have to admit that the death penalty is a possibility? Sure. Is it likely? No,” Barrett said, noting that since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1977, fewer than 200 people have been sentenced to death and only 16 have been executed and none of them women.
The bill could allow homicide charges – including first-degree murder – to apply in cases involving unborn children, testing fetal homicide laws. As it was originally presented, charges could seemingly be brought against an expectant mother receiving an abortion. Those charged with first-degree murder in Tennessee can be legally sentenced to life imprisonment, life without parole or, in certain cases, the death penalty.
The bill led to clashes in Nashville last week, as legislators from both parties argued its pros and cons. Democratic lawmakers were quick to condemn the proposal.
Barrett pushed back on any thoughts that the bill targets mothers. “We’re not targeting mothers. We’re targeting unborn children and trying to protect them,” he said.
As proposed, the bill allows for exceptions for cases where the mother’s life is in jeopardy and spontaneous miscarriages.
