Tennessee Bill to Criminalize Women Who Have Abortions Sparks Fierce Debate Within Pro-Life Movement
A new measure proposed in the Tennessee legislature would impose criminal penalties on women who terminate their unborn children — a position that has re-ignited a heated debate within the pro-life movement over whether women who undergo abortions should be held legally liable. The bill has divided leading pro-life organizations, with some arguing it is the logical conclusion of the belief that unborn life is fully human, while others warn it would alienate public support and punish vulnerable women rather than the abortion industry. Leaders from Concerned Women for America and Students for Life of America have taken opposing positions, exposing a fault line that the movement has largely avoided since the overturning of Roe v. Wade. The legislation forces a question the pro-life movement has deferred for decades: if abortion is the taking of innocent life, should the law treat the woman who seeks one as a criminal, or as a second victim of a predatory industry?
Read Full Story at Christian PostFor you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
— Psalm 139:13-14
The conviction that every human life is fearfully and wonderfully made by God is the foundation of the pro-life movement. But the Tennessee debate forces the church to wrestle with what follows from that conviction — a question about justice, mercy, and how the law should treat women caught in desperate circumstances.