State Rep Says He’ll File New Anti-Abortion Bills

A recurring fight tied to abortion rights cropped up today in the state legislature. It deals with whether a fetus is a person. As WPLN’s Joe White reports, now a lawmaker wants to spell out that a fetus’s death is something you can sue over.

Last year the General Assembly passed a law making the death of a fetus, regardless of viability, an offense for which criminal charges could be filed. Now Representative Matthew Hill wants a law to say victims can also sue for damages.

“If the child is born alive, and then is killed… born alive, and then killed, then it would be liable not only for criminal charges, but also would be liable for civil penalties as well.”

Hill’s proposal could affect vehicular homicide cases, or cases of assault and battery of pregnant women. The East Tennessee Republican wouldn’t give specifics yet, but says he’ll have it in writing before this week’s deadline for new bills.

WEB EXTRA:

Hill (R-Jonesborough) chairs the House’s general subcommittee of Health. He was running today’s meeting where he took two current anti-abortion bills off notice. Those bills, dormant but not really dead, are:
– HB 0433 Hill/SB 0641 Bell, requiring that abortions take place in hospitals, and
– HB 0436 Hill/SB 0643 Bell, revising abortion center requirements.

The bills were listed as ‘Taken Off Notice’ meaning the sponsor can later bring them back up, but generally it indicates that the sponsor isn’t going to pursue that particular bill.

After the subcommittee meeting Hill held an impromptu news conference. He said he moved his original bills aside to make room for two new ones, which he says he’ll file this week.

“Last year we passed – Representative [Josh] Evans passed – legislation dealing with criminal charges being able to be levied, and I think we’re gonna file legislation dealing with the civil side.”

Josh Evans is a Republican from Greenbrier in Robertson County.

Evans’ bill – HB 0498 Evans/SB 0633 Beavers – became Public Chapter 408. The bill was passed on the last day of the 2011 session with 80 Ayes and zero Noes, after many representatives had already left for the year.

It specifies that when a defendant commits a homicide or assault against a pregnant woman, the woman’s fetus, regardless of viability, is also considered a victim of the offense. Or, as Matt Hill said:

“Criminal charges can be levied against anyone that kills an infant that’s been born… born alive.”

When the bill was considered last year, Fiscal Review thought criminal prosecution under the new law might result in one additional prosecution a year – meaning an added $76 thousand cost.