Advocates for abortion rights are increasingly concerned about a troubling trend: numerous state lawmakers are proposing legislation that would allow authorities to charge individuals who seek abortions with homicide.
According to the Center for Reproductive Rights, at least 10 states—Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Texas—have introduced such bills for the 2025 legislative session. Most of these states have already imposed significant restrictions on abortion, either banning it in almost all cases or limiting it to the first six weeks of pregnancy. Missouri and North Dakota are the exceptions; both had near-total bans that were recently overturned.
These proposed laws redefine an embryo or fetus as an “unborn child” or “preborn child,” suggesting that it could be considered a victim of homicide, which could empower law enforcement to prosecute those who seek abortions. Some of the legislation also aims to eliminate protections in existing laws that currently shield pregnant individuals from prosecution. Limited exceptions are outlined, such as in cases where the death of a preborn child is unintentional during life-saving procedures aimed at preserving the mother’s life, provided reasonable efforts to save the preborn child are made, if feasible.
Lizzy Hinkley, a senior state legislative counsel with the Center for Reproductive Rights, has observed an increase in these types of bills this year, which she finds “very, very alarming.” Many of the states proposing these laws, like South Carolina, have provisions for the death penalty.
“This is a clear tactic from the anti-abortion playbook aimed at controlling and punishing pregnant individuals,” she remarks.
So far, three of these bills—in Indiana, North Dakota, and Oklahoma—have failed to progress. Mary Ziegler, a professor specializing in abortion law at the University of California, Davis, believes the chances of the remaining bills passing are “relatively low.” Such proposals typically lack popularity; even among conservatives and anti-abortion advocates, there is division over penalizing those seeking abortions.
“However, I think these bills are more likely to gain traction now than they were in previous years, and their persistence is noteworthy,” Ziegler adds. She highlights that the introduction of these bills has surged since the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which eliminated the constitutional right to abortion.
Traditionally, anti-abortion legislation has targeted medical providers offering abortion services. For example, on March 17, the Texas attorney general announced the arrest of a midwife for allegedly providing illegal abortions—the first such charges in Texas since the Dobbs decision. Additionally, a doctor based in New York faces a civil lawsuit in Texas and criminal charges in Louisiana for allegedly prescribing abortion pills through telemedicine to patients in those states.
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The recent bills also incorporate fetal personhood language—a legal concept central to the battle over reproductive rights that aims to confer legal rights to embryos and fetuses. On his first day in office, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order asserting that the U.S. government recognizes only “two sexes, male and female.” Critics from the abortion rights community warned that the order includes fetal personhood implications by stating that sex is assigned “at conception.”
Hinkley notes that research indicates an uptick in pregnancy-related criminalization since the Dobbs ruling. A report from Pregnancy Justice, a nonprofit focused on protecting pregnant individuals’ rights, revealed that over 210 pregnant people faced criminal charges for actions related to their pregnancies in the year following the Dobbs decision, the highest recorded in a single year. Hinkley states that this report “foreshadowed what we are witnessing now.”
“Whether or not these bills pass this year, they are likely to resurface next year,” Hinkley asserts. “Not long ago, the idea of a total abortion ban without exceptions for rape and incest seemed absurd. Yet, this is the reality confronting pregnant individuals across the nation today. Whether it’s this year, next year, or in the years to come, this is a troubling indication of the ultimate goals of anti-abortion lawmakers and activists.”
