'It’s cruel': Tennessee bill would make assisting a minor to get an abortion a felony

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Abortion is already illegal in Tennessee, but a lawmaker wants to take that a step further.

"As a Christ follower, my number one issue is life. It always has been, it always will be," said Rep. Jason Zachary, a Republican from Knox County.

He has a new bill that would make it a crime for an adult to assist a minor to go out of state to get an abortion, unless that adult is the mother's parent or guardian. Rep. Zachary says he wrote the bill after he was contacted by legal guardians of a pregnant child who ran into this exact issue.

"Their minor child that they were in guardianship of, had been taken by an adult to West Tennessee to facilitate an abortion. The minor called them from West Tennessee to let them know what’s going on," he explained. "So I’m literally on the phone with crying parents, crying guardians saying, what can we do, what can we do?"

Those found guilty would face a Class C felony, which could be three to fifteen years behind bars.

The President of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi says the bill punishes the wrong people.

"There is no merit to this bill whatsoever, it’s cruel," said Ashley Coffield, in an interview with NewsChannel 5. "This bill targets trusted adults, even family members and other helpers who may be needed to assist a minor in accessing the abortion care that they need. For that reason, we just find it reprehensible."

Planned Parenthood doesn't directly take pregnant mothers out of state for abortions, but they do help give support and advice. Coffield says they always encourage expecting mothers to consult with their parents, if possible. But she says they worry about the mothers in abusive situations.

"For some young people that are living in abusive households — disclosing their sexual activity, disclosing their pregnancy can trigger physical and emotional abuse and it could even maybe trigger getting them thrown out of their home," said Coffield.

Rep. Aftyn Behn, a Democrat from Nashville, also thinks the bill could be unconstitutional. Iowa adopted a similar law and it's currently being challenged in court.

"You can’t limit people’s travel across state lines, it is illegal," said Behn. "This is a long term project to erode further bodily autonomy in terms of medications, birth control and I think this is just the next iteration of that."

Zachary shrugged off the potential legal challenges.

"Every bill we pass related to life, voting and guns is going to run into a legal challenge. That’s just the way we are now in 2024," he said.

Rep. Zachary's bill would permit parents and guardians that approve of an abortion to help their child to seek treatment out of state. But he wasn't sympathetic to minors that lack that approval.

"We’re certainly, in this case, not going to allow a minor make a decision of whether they can kill the baby that’s inside of them or not," said Zachary. "Everything I can do to protect a life, I’m going to do. And this is one additional step."

While HB 1895 has been introduced, it hasn't been assigned to any committees to review just yet.