DURHAM, N.C. — Two Tennessee lawmakers have introduced legislation that would classify receiving an abortion as criminal homicide, potentially punishable by life imprisonment, fines, or even the death penalty. The proposal, while unlikely to pass in its current form, marks one of the most aggressive attempts yet to redefine abortion under criminal law in the post-Roe era.
The bills, introduced separately in Tennessee’s House and Senate, seek to amend the state’s homicide statute to include abortion within the definition of murder. Under Tennessee law, criminal homicide encompasses first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and criminally negligent homicide. The proposed change would explicitly categorize abortion as an act eligible for prosecution under those statutes.
The move immediately drew praise from some anti-abortion advocates and condemnation from reproductive rights organizations, illustrating the widening legal and moral divide in the United States since the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which overturned Roe v. Wade and returned abortion regulation to the states.
A Post-Dobbs Legal Landscape
Since Dobbs, states have enacted a patchwork of abortion laws. According to the Guttmacher Institute, as of early 2026, 14 states enforce near-total abortion bans, while others permit abortion with gestational limits or expanded protections. Tennessee currently has a “trigger law” ban that took effect after Dobbs, prohibiting abortion at nearly all stages of pregnancy except in limited medical emergencies.
The newly introduced legislation goes further by proposing criminal liability not only for providers but potentially for individuals seeking abortion services.
Legal scholars note that while Tennessee’s proposal is among the most sweeping, it is not occurring in isolation. Americans United for Life, a legal advocacy organization that supports abortion restrictions, reports tracking more than 1,400 abortion-related bills and policies nationwide. These range from gestational limits and funding restrictions to fetal personhood measures and expanded criminal penalties.
“This is part of a broader strategy to test the outer limits of state authority,” said Mary Ziegler, a legal historian at the University of California, Davis, who studies abortion law. “The post-Dobbs environment has created space for legislation that would have been legally inconceivable a decade ago.”
Criminal Law and Constitutional Questions
Whether such a law could withstand constitutional scrutiny remains uncertain.
Although Dobbs removed federal constitutional protection for abortion, it did not eliminate other constitutional constraints. Legal analysts suggest that laws imposing capital punishment for abortion could face Eighth Amendment challenges concerning cruel and unusual punishment, as well as due process claims under the Fourteenth Amendment.
Additionally, Tennessee’s existing abortion ban includes an affirmative defense for physicians who perform abortions to save the life of the pregnant patient. The homicide proposal would complicate that framework by introducing potential overlap between criminal homicide statutes and medical judgment.
“This would fundamentally reshape how criminal law interacts with reproductive healthcare,” said Elizabeth Sepper, a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. “It shifts abortion from a regulated medical procedure to a capital crime.”
National Political Reactions
Advocates of the Tennessee measure argue that the legislation is consistent with their belief that life begins at conception and that abortion constitutes the taking of a human life. Pastor Clint Presley, a Tennessee religious leader, publicly praised the proposal as aligning state law with what he described as moral clarity.
Reproductive rights organizations responded sharply. Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi characterized the proposal as “an egregious affront to bodily autonomy” and warned of chilling effects on patients seeking emergency medical care.
Meanwhile, federal lawmakers remain divided on whether Congress should intervene. While some have proposed national abortion restrictions, others have introduced bills to codify abortion access nationwide.
What It Means for North Carolina
Though the Tennessee proposal applies only within that state, its implications reverberate nationally — including in North Carolina.
North Carolina currently permits abortion through 12 weeks of pregnancy, with limited exceptions afterward. The state enacted its own post-Dobbs restrictions in 2023, tightening requirements for in-person visits and imposing additional regulations on providers.
Policy analysts note that legislative developments in one Southern state often influence debate in neighboring states.
“Legislators watch each other,” said Chris Cooper, a political scientist at Western Carolina University. “When one state tests a boundary, others evaluate the political and legal fallout.”
In Durham, reactions are layered. The city, often considered more progressive than other parts of North Carolina, has seen sustained civic engagement on reproductive rights since 2022.
“I think people here are watching carefully,” said Angela Bryant, a Durham resident and community organizer. “What happens in Tennessee doesn’t stay in Tennessee. It shapes the national conversation.”
Others frame the debate in constitutional rather than ideological terms.
“Regardless of where someone stands on abortion, the idea of prosecuting women for homicide is a profound escalation,” said Michael Torres, a Raleigh-based attorney who works in constitutional law. “It pushes criminal law into deeply personal territory.”
A Nation in Transition
The Tennessee bills face multiple procedural hurdles before becoming law, and legal experts anticipate court challenges if enacted. Yet the introduction itself signals a shift in how far some lawmakers are willing to go.
Since Dobbs, abortion policy has moved rapidly from federal courts to state legislatures. Ballot initiatives in states such as Kansas, Ohio, and Michigan have demonstrated that voters can diverge sharply from legislative majorities. In other states, restrictions have expanded without direct voter approval.
The question is no longer whether states can regulate abortion, but how aggressively they will do so.
For readers in Durham and across the Research Triangle, the debate is not abstract. North Carolina has become a regional access point for abortion services in the South, with patients traveling from states with stricter bans. That dynamic has placed North Carolina at the center of a shifting regional map.
As this issue continues to evolve, The Bull City Citizen will track developments not only in Tennessee, but across North Carolina and the broader Southeast. The intersection of criminal law, constitutional interpretation, and reproductive healthcare remains one of the defining legal battlegrounds of this generation.
Because what begins as a bill in one statehouse can, in time, reshape the country.
