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Texas Lawmakers Are Considering Installing The Death Penalty For Abortion

Texas Lawmakers Are Considering Installing The Death Penalty For Abortion

Politicians advocating for the law say women need to take more responsibility for their decision.

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie

Lawmakers in Texas have debated long into the night whether to introduce the death penalty for those convicted of getting an abortion.

House Bill 896 would provide grounds for the death penalty to be used in the courts system because aborting a pregnancy would be considered homicide.

The bill's statement says: "A living human child, from the moment of fertilization on fusion of a human spermatozoon with a human ovum, is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as are secured or granted by the laws of this state to any other human child."

PA

State Rep. Tony Tinderholt introduced the bill, saying women needed to be held accountable for their actions.

He told politicians: "I think it's important to remember that if a drunk driver kills a pregnant woman, they get charged twice. If you murder a pregnant woman, you get charged twice.

"So I'm not specifically criminalizing women. What I'm doing is equalizing the law."

Unsurprisingly, there's been a bit of pushback from other politicians.

Democrat Victoria Neave said: "I'm trying to reconcile in my head the arguments that I heard tonight about how essentially one is okay with subjecting a woman to the death penalty for the exact - to do to her the exact same thing that one is alleging she is doing to a child."

The bill isn't even supported by some anti-abortion groups such as Texans for Life.

Texas isn't the only state that's looking to overturn Roe vs. Wade, the 1970s federal legislation that make abortion legal. Kentucky, Mississippi and Alabama have also been making moves to restrict women's rights.

The Washington Post says Georgia and South Carolina could introduce similar bans in the future.

Featured Image Credit: PA

Topics: America, News, abortion, Politics