Equal Protection Bills Filed in Tennessee
NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE — Tennessee State Representative Jody Barrett and Tennessee State Senator Mark Pody have introduced House Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738, which would abolish abortion in Tennessee by establishing equal protection of the laws for preborn babies.
This is the first equal protection legislation ever filed in Tennessee and would become the strongest anti-abortion legislation in state history if passed into law.
The legislation recognizes that “innocent human life, created in the image of God, should be equally protected under the laws from fertilization to natural death.” House Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738 require that all preborn babies are “protected with the same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons by repealing provisions that permit prenatal homicide and assault.”
Under this legislation, murdering anyone would be made illegal for everyone, ensuring that all humans made in the image of God are equally protected in accordance with the Tennessee Constitution, the United States Constitution, and the Law of God.
Tennessee has passed many Pro-Life regulations in recent years, and yet total abortion numbers for the state are increasing even after the overturn of Roe v. Wade.
While new regulations have effectively banned surgical abortions, there were over 5,000 telehealth abortions on Tennessee soil as of 2024, a figure which includes neither out-of-state travel for abortions nor self-managed abortions occurring outside of the medical system.
Pro-Life regulations in Tennessee provide complete legal immunity to any pregnant woman who has an abortion, a loophole that allows mothers to willfully murder their preborn babies through telehealth abortions and other means. This loophole must be closed in order to truly abolish abortion in Tennessee.
Tennessee has a Republican Governor, as well as Republican supermajorities in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly. Tennessee lawmakers have the duty before God to establish equal protection of the laws for all persons and finally abolish abortion in the state.