A new proposal in Tennessee is aiming to take a bold step in the pro-life fight by treating abortion as murder under state law, as lawmakers seek to confront what they describe as a growing influx of abortion pills into the state.
The legislation, introduced by state Rep. Jody Barrett and Sen. Mark Pody, asserts that unborn children are entitled to equal protection under the 14th Amendment. The bill states that all laws protecting life in Tennessee should apply equally to the unborn. Under the proposal, anyone involved in taking the life of an unborn child could face punishment — including individuals who provide abortion pills and women who take them with the intention of ending the life of their unborn child.
Barrett told The Daily Wire that the legislation “extends equal protection rights to unborn children,” meaning that the same criminal code provisions governing homicide would apply to those in the womb.
The proposal comes as data shows thousands of abortions have taken place in Tennessee despite a trigger law that went into effect after Roe v. Wade was overturned. In 2024 alone, at least 5,870 abortions were facilitated through abortion pills sent into the state, in violation of Tennessee laws that make medication abortions illegal.
Barrett has argued that current state law contains a significant gap. “We don’t ban abortion, we have banned the practice of abortion by medical professionals. There is no crime in Tennessee for anyone else other than a medical professional that performs an abortion,” he said.
He believes his proposal would address what he calls the “abortion pill problem,” which has challenged pro-life states across the country. While many traditional pro-life organizations have expressed opposition to criminalizing abortion for the mother, Barrett says the status quo is not working.
“My goal in presenting the bill and having it heard is for us to start having that conversation and have a deeper discussion about this topic and where our shortcomings are currently in the law that they’re preventing us from stopping this completely and ridding this practice completely from our society,” Barrett said.
Some local media outlets have highlighted the possibility that a woman could face the death penalty under the proposed law. Barrett noted that the death penalty has been used sparingly in recent decades and said it would be unlikely that a woman would receive such a sentence. He emphasized that a jury would first have to find the woman guilty and then unanimously agree to impose the death penalty.
The legislation was crafted with assistance from the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, an organization advocating for equal protection under the law for the unborn.
“The equal protection legislation in Tennessee affirms this simple biblical and constitutional standard by making murdering anyone illegal for everyone,” said Bradley Pierce, president of the group. “All image-bearers of God, whether born or preborn, must be treated by our laws as equally valuable and worthy of protection.”
The bill has also received backing from Clint Pressley, president of the Nashville-based Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States.
“Tennessee now has the opportunity to set an example of how states can protect the sanctity of human life from conception to natural death,” Pressley said. “I am urging the Tennessee legislature to move these bills forward this legislative session. It’s both pro-life and consistent!”
Supporters argue the legislation is a necessary response to rising abortion numbers. Data indicates abortions increased in 2025 compared to 2024, with some advocates blaming a Biden-era Food and Drug Administration policy that allowed abortion pills to be dispensed by mail without an in-person doctor’s visit.
As debate intensifies, Tennessee lawmakers are poised to consider whether the state will take this next step in redefining how abortion is treated under the law.
[READ MORE: Bret Baier: Americans Feeling Economic Pain, Trump to Focus on Economy in State of the Union]
