A bill that sought to charge woman who seek abortions with homicide — including the death penalty — died unceremoniously in a Tennessee House subcommittee on March 10.
House Bill 570, sponsored by Rep. Jody Barrett, R-Dickson, would have removed legal protections for pregnant women currently in statute, and classified harm done to an unborn child as equal to assault on a person “born alive.” Women who get abortions could have been prosecuted for homicide, punishable by life imprisonment or in some cases, the death penalty.
No member of the House Population Subcommittee made a motion to hear the bill on March 10, so the bill was pronounced dead. Outbursts followed, and the committee chair ordered the room cleared.
“Cowards and heretics everywhere!” one person yelled.
Outside the chamber, a crowd of “abortion abolition” supporters, predominantly bearded men, belted out the hymn “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” near the committee chamber doors. They followed the hymn with the doxology, hands raised in worship.
