Tennessee House Bill HB0179

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 1/15/25
• Refer: 1/28/25
• Failed: 3/3/26

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 39, Chapter 15; Title 63 and Title 68, relative to women's health.

Summary

HB0179 would amend Tennessee’s criminal abortion law to narrow the circumstances under which an abortion would not be treated as a criminal abortion. Under the bill, an abortion would be exempt from the offense only if it is performed or attempted by a licensed physician who determines, based on the facts known at the time, that the procedure is necessary to protect the pregnant woman’s physical or mental health, or if the pregnancy resulted from certain specified crimes: aggravated rape, rape, rape of a child, especially aggravated rape, especially aggravated rape of a child, or incest. The bill also states that criminal abortion remains a Class C felony. Its effective date would be July 1, 2025. Although the bill’s caption references Title 39, Title 63, and Title 68 and describes the measure as relating to women’s health, the text provided specifically amends the criminal abortion statute in Title 39.

Impact

HB0179 would change Tennessee Code Annotated § 39-15-213 by replacing the existing exceptions to criminal abortion with a narrower, physician-based health exception and a crime-based exception tied to specific sexual offenses and incest. As a result, the bill would affect physicians, pregnant patients, and criminal enforcement of abortion-related conduct by defining when an abortion is not criminal and reaffirming the felony classification for prohibited abortions.

Sentiment

The available voting history suggests the bill faced substantial opposition and did not advance. A March 10, 2025 floor vote on a motion to suspend the rules failed by a wide margin, 22 yeas to 65 nays, and a later March 3, 2026 Population Health Subcommittee vote also failed, 2 yeas to 8 nays. No committee transcript is available, but the recorded votes indicate the measure did not have broad support in the legislature.

Contention

The main point of contention appears to be the bill’s abortion restrictions and the limited exceptions it creates. Supporters likely viewed the measure as a women’s health and criminal law clarification, while opponents appear to have objected to the criminalization of abortion except in narrowly defined circumstances. The narrowness of the health exception, the reliance on physician judgment, and the specific inclusion of rape and incest-related exceptions are the likely focal points of disagreement.