Tennessee GOP Intro Bill To Kill Women Who Get An Abortion

Here's an update on the bill, on the men responsible, and how you can contact them to stop this bill

Under Tennessee law, homicide can carry the death penalty. Now, Tennessee Republican lawmakers have introduced House Bill 570 / Senate Bill 738—legislation that declares life must be protected “from fertilization to natural death.”

By revising homicide statutes to include abortion under the same legal framework, this bill enables capital punishment for women who receive abortion care and for physicians who provide it. While the bill has not yet been formally filed, if it is filed and passed, its provisions would take effect July 1, 2026—that’s just a few months away. Here’s what you need to know about this bill, the five white Republican men behind it, and how you can do your part to help stop this bill from advancing.

Let’s Address This.

Who Is Behind This Bill?

Sponsored by Rep. Jody Barrett (R-Dickson) and backed by Reps. Bud Hulsey, Monty Fritts, and Ed Butler — with a Senate companion bill sponsored by Sen. Mark Pody — this proposal revises Tennessee’s assault and homicide statutes to apply the same legal standards to abortion as existing homicide laws. As you can see, it is quite a diverse bunch sponsoring this barbaric piece of legislation.

Last year, I sounded the alarm about South Carolina introducing a bill redefining personhood to criminalize abortion as homicide. At the time, I warned that even if such bills failed, their repeated introduction would shift the Overton Window and embolden lawmakers in other states to follow suit.

This bill in Tennessee is an example of this possibility materializing into reality. Let’s be clear about what this means. The legal architecture they are constructing makes abortion legally indistinguishable from homicide. This is draconian. And, worse, this bill is being introduced in a state that already leads the nation in maternal mortality.

The Facts Tennessee Lawmakers Cannot Ignore

According to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), Tennessee ranks number one in the nation for maternal mortality between 2018 and 2022. During that five-year period, there were 166 pregnancy-related deaths in Tennessee, giving the state a maternal mortality rate of 41.1 deaths per 100,000 births — more than double the national average of 18.6.

Tennessee Republican lawmakers could have some humanity and meaningfully addressing this crisis—which might include expanding access to prenatal care, investing in rural hospitals, or funding maternal health programs. Instead, they are proposing legislation that will escalate criminal penalties against women experiencing pregnancy complications and those seeking reproductive care.

This is not about protecting life. It is about exerting control.

When a state with the highest maternal mortality rate in America proposes legislation that would treat abortion as homicide, it is not “pro-life.” It is reckless governance. When I wrote about South Carolina’s bill, thousands of you mobilized. Calls were made. Pressure was applied. The bill was stalled.

But I cautioned then that the introduction itself was strategic. The goal was not necessarily immediate passage. The goal was normalization. The goal was to move the conversation further toward criminalization so that what once seemed unthinkable would become merely “controversial.”

Now Tennessee is following that path.

This is how coordinated national strategies operate. Introduce extreme legislation in one state. Gauge reaction. Refine the language. Introduce similar bills elsewhere. Repeat until one advances far enough to reach federal courts.

If we treat each bill as an isolated anomaly, we will continue playing defense. If we recognize this as a coordinated effort, we can respond accordingly.

What You Can Do — Nationwide

This is not only a Tennessee issue. It is a national test case. If these bills advance in one state, others will follow.

You can act right now.

Contact the bill sponsors and make clear that criminalizing women and exposing them to capital punishment for seeking abortion care is unacceptable. Below I provide their publicly available contact numbers, address, emails, and a script to help guide your remarks.

Rep. Jody Barrett
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 596 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-3513
Fax: (615) 253-0244
Email: rep.jody.barrett@capitol.tn.gov

Rep. Bud Hulsey
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 519 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-2886
Fax: (615) 253-0247
Email: rep.bud.hulsey@capitol.tn.gov

Rep. Monty Fritts
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 430 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-7658
Fax: (615) 253-0163
Email: rep.monty.fritts@capitol.tn.gov

Rep. Ed Butler
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 578 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-1260
Fax: (615) 253-0328
Email: rep.ed.butler@capitol.tn.gov

Sen. Mark Pody
425 Rep. John Lewis Way N.
Suite 754 Cordell Hull Bldg.
Nashville, TN 37243
Phone: (615) 741-2421
Fax: (615) 253-0205
Email: sen.mark.pody@capitol.tn.gov

You can use this simple script:

Subject: Vote NO on HB 570 / SB 738

My name is ________, and I am writing to urge you to reject House Bill 570 / Senate Bill 738.

Tennessee already has the highest maternal mortality rate in the nation. Criminalizing abortion as homicide will not protect women — it will endanger them.

Revising homicide statutes to apply to abortion creates a pathway to capital punishment for women and providers. That is extreme, reckless, and harmful.

I urge you to vote NO and instead focus on policies that actually reduce maternal deaths and improve access to health care.

Sincerely,
[Your Name]

Mobilization matters. Legislators track call volume. They track email spikes. They measure opposition. We have stopped similar bills before. We can do it again.

This Is Not Going Away

These efforts will continue unless we respond with equal persistence. They are coordinated, strategic, and designed to escalate. Silence enables that escalation.

I will continue to monitor these developments and elevate them in real time. State-level extremism often receives minimal national coverage until it is too late. As a human rights lawyer, I believe it is essential to track these patterns early, explain their implications clearly, and mobilize before damage becomes irreversible.

If you value that work, I ask you to support it.

Subscribe to Let’s Address This. Share this article. Help grow this platform so that we can continue exposing and organizing against these threats—especially at the state level, where many of the most consequential battles are unfolding quietly.

As these barbaric pieces of legislation spread, we must match and exceed that escalation with sustained, organized resistance. My gratitude to each of you who are in this fight for human rights. Let’s continue to support each other to elevate our impact.