Republicans across the country keep introducing bills that would level prosecution and even death sentences for abortion patients.
At least a dozen states that have introduced regressive, punitive measures relating to abortion care in just the last year.
A bill was introduced in the North Carolina House of Representatives last week that would classify abortion as first-degree murder and allow anyone to use deadly force to prevent a person from obtaining such care.
North Carolina House Bill 1232, which was introduced by Republican state Representatives Keith Kidwell and Ben Moss, would allow state residents to vote on a constitutional amendment to establish “a distinct and separate human life begins at the moment of fertilization.” The bill also explicitly states that “any person has the right to defend his or her own life or the life of another person, even by the use of deadly force if necessary, from willful destruction by another person.”
News of the bill has sparked widespread conversation surrounding the actual intentions of lawmakers when they introduce bills like this, with many noting that there is clearly no effort on the part of said lawmakers to protect pregnant people at all. Many have also pointed out the hypocrisy of introducing these bills while actively seeking to restrict any sort of assistance for new parents.
But it is important to understand that North Carolina is not an outlier when it comes to egregious anti-abortion bills – it’s one of a dozen states that have introduced regressive, punitive measures relating to abortion care in just the last year.
Since the start of 2025, lawmakers in at least 12 states – Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Carolina North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee – have introduced bills that would criminalize abortion as homicide or allow prosecution of those who obtain abortion care.
Prosecution in several of these states would level the death penalty.
Many of these bills seek to establish “fetal personhood,” which would grant the same legal protections to a fertilized egg, a fetus, or an embryo as are granted to born people.
Bills that have died in their state legislatures:
Georgia House Bill 441: The “Georgia Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” which was introduced by Republican state Representatives Charlice Byrd, Mike Cameron, Emory Dunahoo, Trey Kelley, Danny Mathis, and Martin Momtahan, sought to establish “fetal personhood” by defining life as “beginning at fertilization,” effectively making all abortions punishable as homicide. The bill removed previous legal protections and could potentially subject patients to homicide investigations or criminal prosecution.
Idaho S 1059: The “Idaho Prenatal Equal Protection Act, which was introduced by Republican state Senator Brandon Shippy, would have given embryos and fetuses the same legal defenses and protections “as would apply to the homicide of a human being who had been born alive.” The bill defined a “preborn child” as a “living human being before birth from the beginning of biological development at the moment of fertilization.
Iowa House File 2316: The bill, which was introduced by Republican state Representatives Zach Dieken, Samantha Fett, Mark Cisneros, John Wills, Wendy Larson, Charley Thomson, Dean Fisher, Craig Johnson, would have established “fetal personhood,” defining an “unborn child” as a person from the moment of conception, making criminal and civil laws applicable to the fetus, effectively redefining homicide in the state to include abortion.
Indiana House Bill 1334: The bill, which was introduced by Republican state Representative Lorissa Sweet, would have modified the definition of “human being” in the state criminal code to include “beings in utero and fertilized eggs.” The bill would have also repealed existing sections of the criminal code to clarify that abortions are considered homicide under state law and can be prosecuted as such and repealed existing language so that “intentionally killing a fetus” would count as murder or manslaughter.
Kentucky House Bill 714: The “Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” which was introduced by Republican state Representatives Josh Calloway, Richard White, and Emily Callaway, sought to legally classify “unborn children” as homicide victims under state law. The bill would have allowed for pregnant people who have abortions to be prosecuted for murder.
Missouri House Bill 1072: The “Missouri Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” which was introduced by Republican state Representative Justin Sparks, sought to expand the definition of a “person” to include “unborn children” at every stage of development. The bill would have legally treated abortion as a homicide, exposing both doctors and patients to first-degree murder charges, and removed existing protections shielding pregnant people from prosecution.
North Dakota House Bill 1373: The bill, which was sponsored by Republican state Representative Lori VanWinkle, would have classified fetuses as “human beings” under the state’s criminal code, opening the door to prosecuting abortion as homicide.
Oklahoma Senate Bill 456: The “Abolition of Abortion Act”, which was introduced by Republican state Senator Dusty Deevers, would have amended Section 691 of the state criminal code to apply the “same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons by repealing provisions that permit willful prenatal homicide or assault” by redefining “human being” to include an “unborn child.” The bill also explicitly stated that criminal charges can apply even “if the defendant is the child’s mother.”
Texas House Bill 2197: The bill, which was introduced by Republican state Representative Brent Money, would have extended murder charges to all individuals involved in facilitating an abortion, including those who terminate their own pregnancies. Under current Texas law, doctors and healthcare providers face severe penalties for performing or assisting in abortions, but those who self-induce their own abortions, such as with abortion medication, are not criminally prosecuted — HB 2197 sought to remove this exception by repealing section 19.06 of the Texas penal code.
Tennessee House Bill 570: The bill, which was introduced by Republican state Representative Jody Barrett and state Senator Mark Pody, sought to redefine legal terms in the state’s criminal code to treat an embryo or fetus at any stage of gestation identically to a person “born alive.” By reclassifying abortion as “prenatal homicide,” those who obtained abortions could have facedmurder and assault charges, including the death penalty.
Bills still active in their state legislatures:
North Carolina House Bill 1232, introduced by Republican state Representatives Keith Kidwell and Ben Moss, would allow state residents to vote on a constitutional amendment to establish “a distinct and separate human life begins at the moment of fertilization.” The bill also explicitly states that “any person has the right to defend his or her own life or the life of another person, even by the use of deadly force if necessary, from willful destruction by another person.”
South Carolina S0783: The “South Carolina Prenatal Equal Protection Act,” introduced by Republican state Senator Lee Bright, would establish that embryos have citizenship and equal protection under the law, and those that are aborted are victims of homicide. If successful, the bill would make it possible for prosecutors to charge a person who had an abortion with homicide. If convicted, that person could face the death penalty.
Many of the bills outlined above have died thanks in large part to pressure from activists and communities within the states in which they were introduced. It is because of the steadfast work of those who continue to pay attention to legislation that could impact millions of people that these regressive bills are killed before they can cause great harm.
I have always said that it is important to pay attention to state-level bills, even if you are not in that state, because these bills act as a blueprint for others. (The “fetal personhood” bills are often almost identical to one another because the anti-abortion lobby is drafting them.)
You can stay updated on bills relating to abortion, as well as other abortion-related news, easily by using Ground News. (I do!)
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