A Tennessee lawmaker has proposed a measure that could make women who have abortions face severe criminal charges, including the possibility of the death penalty.
According to WTVF, Republican state Representative Jody Barrett introduced legislation that would allow women who obtain abortions to be charged with homicide or assault in Tennessee, a state where the death penalty is legal.
Barrett argued that the law should treat the killing of a fetus the same as the killing of a person.
“Murder should be murder, whether it’s a person in being or a person in utero,” Barrett said.
He also stated that the proposal is not intended to punish mothers. Instead, he said the goal is to protect unborn children under the law.
“We’re not targeting mothers,” Barrett explained. “We’re targeting unborn children and trying to protect them and give them the same legal protection as everyone else.”
Barrett added that it is unlikely anyone would actually receive a death sentence under the proposal, which has not yet been formally introduced.
He pointed out that since the death penalty was reinstated in Tennessee in 1977, fewer than 200 people have been sentenced to death, and only 16 have been executed. He also noted that none of those executed were women.
The Nashville Banner reported that Republican state Senator Mark Pody, who sponsored a Senate version of the bill, said the amendment was unlikely to pass.
“I am a pro-life individual, so I don’t want to back down from that position,” Pody said. “But this amendment came from the House; I didn’t write it.”
Pody explained that based on discussions with fellow lawmakers, he does not believe there is enough support for the amendment in the Senate.
According to WTVF, Tennessee already has strict abortion laws that impose penalties on doctors who perform abortion procedures.
