NEWS FROM THE STATES

So-called “abortion abolitionists” who believe that abortion should be classified as homicide, and that fetuses, embryos and zygotes should have the same legal protections as people are often behind these measures.

This year, the Foundation to Abolish Abortion praised Republican lawmakers in Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee who introduced bills that would punish people who get abortions.

LOUISVILLE COURIER-JOURNAL

Two more bills that would criminalize abortion have been filed in the House: House Bill 714, filed by Rep. Josh Calloway, R-Irvington, which would open the door for homicide charges to be prosecuted in the death of an unborn child, and House Bill 764, filed by Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, which would explicitly allow the prosecution of pregnant women who have an abortion or cause the death of their unborn child.

The bills would supersede Kentucky’s current laws on prenatal homicide and abortion and open up mothers, like the one in Wolfe County, to additional legal liability, with an exception for miscarriages or lifesaving procedures.

DESERET

While lacking large support in the Legislature, the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, a nonprofit that says its mission is to “exalt and vindicate the image of God by promoting sound public policy that provides all preborn human beings equal protection of the laws,” is publicly supporting the bill.

Despite the state’s total ban enacted in 2022, the Foundation to Abolish Abortion claimed more than 5,000 telehealth abortions occurred “on Tennessee soil” in 2024. Additionally, Guttmacher Institute estimates suggest more than 10,000 Tennesseans traveled out of state for abortion services that same year.

REFORMATION RED PILL with JOSHUA HAYMES

In this episode of Reformation Red Pill, Joshua Haymes interviews Ben Zeisloft, communications director of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, about House Bill 570, the first equal protection bill ever introduced in Tennessee.

THE TENNESSEAN

Despite lack of support in the Senate, Barrett's amendment is gaining momentum. New sponsors in both chambers signed onto the bill this week, and the bill was endorsed by the far-right group Tennessee Stands. 

Abortion abolitionists from the Foundation to Abolish Abortion and an associated student group lobbied lawmakers this week, asking “are you on God’s side or the side of man?”

FOX 56

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion, proponents of House Bill 714, wrote in a news release that it would be “the only legislation that would truly abolish abortion in the Bluegrass State, requiring that preborn babies are ‘protected with the same homicide laws protecting all other human persons.’”

“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 Kentucky Constitution, the United States Constitution, and the Law of God,” the Foundation to Abolish Abortion wrote.

ABORTION EVERY DAY

I’m going to repeat that: One in four Republicans in the Georgia House of Representatives has signed onto a bill that would have abortion patients punished with the death penalty or life in prison. The clip below is from a Turning Points USA event at the University of Alabama, featuring Bradley Pierce of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion and Jeff Durbin from End Abortion Now.

While we’re talking about “equal protection” bills: Kentucky Republicans have just introduced legislation that would, you guessed it, punish abortion patients as murderers. HB 714 was likely drafted by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, which put out a statement lauding the bill today.

PEOPLE

“Murder should be murder, whether it's a person in being or a person in utero,” Barrett told the outlet. He also claimed that the proposal, which is a potential amendment to a bill dealing with the upkeep of a state capitol "monument to unborn children," is not meant to target mothers.

“I think that's a talking point saying that you’re targeting mothers. We’re not targeting mothers,” Barrett told WTVF. “We’re targeting unborn children and trying to protect them and give them the protection under the law for you and me.”

STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS

The bills have gained support just as quickly with the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, an anti-abortion group that promotes policy that “provides all preborn human beings equal protection of the laws,” issuing a notice for supporters to call their legislators to vote in favor of the amendment.

“Murdering anyone must be illegal for everyone,” the advocacy organization said in a post on X. It praised Barrett and Pody for the legislation.

THE MATT WALSH SHOW

Today on the Matt Walsh Show, chaos erupts south of the border as Mexico descends further into anarchy and violence. What if anything should the United States do about this, to protect its own citizens? Also, a new bill in Tennessee could make abortion a criminal offense.

THE DAILY WIRE

Barrett crafted the legislation with the help of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, a group that seeks to expand equal protection laws to the unborn.

“The equal protection legislation in Tennessee affirms this simple biblical and constitutional standard by making murdering anyone illegal for everyone,” Bradley Pierce, the group’s president, told The Daily Wire. “All image-bearers of God, whether born or preborn, must be treated by our laws as equally valuable and worthy of protection.”

THE HILL

Two Republican lawmakers in Tennessee are floating an amendment to an abortion bill that would bring homicide charges against expecting mothers who choose to terminate their pregnancies.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion also backed the proposal, writing that current Tennessee laws “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.”

LIBERTY CHAMPION

Constitutional attorney and President of the Foundation to Abolish Abortion Bradley Pierce spoke at the College Republicans event Monday, Feb. 16. This event was the club’s first speaker event of the semester with more than 50 students and members of the community in attendance. 

Abolition of abortion, according to Pierce, is equal protection for the unborn to the same degree as for a born person. It would make it illegal for abortion providers to manufacture and sell abortion drugs, and it would also make it illegal for the mother to take them or for anyone to coerce a mother into taking them.

JEZEBEL

The legislation was initially announced by anti-abortion group Foundation to Abolish Abortion, and was endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention.

So far in 2026, three states, in addition to Tennessee, have tried to advance legislation aiming to classify abortion as murder. Ten states tried (and failed) to do the same in 2025. It’s a risky move for the GOP ahead of the midterms—as abortion rights remain overwhelmingly popular in the U.S.

NEWSMAX

The legislation is supported by Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley and the Foundation to Abolish Abortion.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion said there were more than 5,000 telehealth abortions in Tennessee in 2024 and more than 10,000 abortions provided to Tennesseans by clinicians out of state, based on estimates from the Guttmacher Institute, according to The Tennessean.

NEWSWEEK

An amendment on House Bill 570 and Senate Bill 738, advanced by two state House Republicans, would allow prosecutors to charge women who have abortions with fetal homicide, which carries sentences of life imprisonment, life without parole or the death penalty.

The Foundation to Abolish Abortion, in a statement: “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.”

THE INDEPENDENT

Elsewhere, Clint Pressley, president of the evangelical Southern Baptist Convention, also endorsed the bill last week, writing on social media that it would “protect every preborn child in Tennessee from abortion by providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws.”

Barrett and Pody's bill has also been endorsed by the Foundation to Abolish Abortion, a nonprofit whose mission is to “exalt and vindicate the image of God by promoting sound public policy that provides all preborn human beings equal protection of the laws."

THE NEW YORK SUN

Amendments to House Bill 570, introduced by Representative Jody Barrett, and Senate Bill 738, Senator Mark Pody, both Republicans, aims to mandate that mothers of terminated “preborn” children face the same criminal and civil charges as someone who kills a born person.

The Christian-based nonprofit, Foundation to Abolish Abortion, says the legislation is an equalizer because  it “would simply make murdering anyone illegal for everyone.”

CHURCH LEADERS

Southern Baptist Convention President Clint Pressley voiced his support for proposed Tennessee legislation that would allow the death penalty to be imposed on a woman who has an abortion.

“I am glad to support HB 570 and SB 738, two bills in the Tennessee legislature that would protect every preborn child in Tennessee from abortion by providing preborn children with equal protection of the laws,” Pressley posted on X. “By protecting the lives of preborn children with the same laws that protect people who are born, we are simply loving our neighbors in the womb as ourselves.”

ABORTION EVERY DAY

If it feels like you’re hearing an awful lot lately about the death penalty for abortion patients, it’s because ‘equal protection’ legislation has been exploding across the country. These once-fringe bills were introduced in over a dozen states last year, and now it looks like we could see even more in 2026.

Reps. Jody Barrett and Mark Pody filed an amendment to HB 570 hat would remove protections for pregnant women and codify “equal protection” for fetuses, embryos, and fertilized eggs. As has been the case in every other state that’s introduced “equal protection” legislation, the Republican sponsors worked with so-called abortion abolitionist groups. In fact, TN Repro News reports that the Foundation to Abolish Abortion announced the legislation before it even appeared on the Tennessee General Assembly’s website!