TBA Law Blog

TBA Law Blog

Abortion ‘Clarification’ Bill Proceeds to House, Senate Floors

Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Apr 3, 2025

A bill headed for both the House and Senate floors could clarify cases in which an abortion could be legal in Tennessee to preserve the life of the mother, the Nashville Post reports. According to bill sponsor Rep. Bryan Terry, R-Murfreesboro, SB1004/HB990 would not add specific exceptions, but would specify some cases in which an abortion could fall under the state ban’s sole exception of “serious risk of substantial and irreversible impairment of major bodily function.” Conditions in the bill include previable/premature rupturing of membranes, inevitable abortion, severe preeclampsia, mirror syndrome associated with fetal hydrops, and infection that could result in uterine rupture or loss of fertility. During a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting last week, co-sponsor Sen. Richard Briggs, R-Knoxville, said, “… this bill is simply about clarifying and elaborating on the existing ‘life and health of the mother’ exception in current law. Under this bill ‘reasonable medical judgment’ still applies.” In October, a three-judge panel ruled in Davidson County Chancery Court that doctors could perform an abortion from a list very similar to the one in the legislation. An alternative measure, which would have created an exception for “fetal fatal anomalies” was rejected by the Senate committee.

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