Tennessee Senate Bill SB0935

Tennessee 2025-2026 Regular Session

• Introduced: 2/5/25

Caption

AN ACT to amend Tennessee Code Annotated, Section 39-15-203, relative to abortion.

Summary

SB0935 makes a narrow procedural change to Tennessee’s abortion statute, Tennessee Code Annotated Section 39-15-203. The bill amends a notice-and-reporting provision by adding the chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House committee with jurisdiction over criminal justice-related matters to the list of legislative leaders who receive specified information, after the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The measure does not change the underlying criminal or regulatory standards governing abortion; it adjusts who is formally included in the statutory notification chain. In practical terms, the bill affects the administration of abortion-related reporting requirements by expanding the set of legislative recipients for certain notices or information under the statute. Because the amendment is limited to a single insertion in the existing code section, its legal impact is procedural rather than substantive, and it does not create new offenses, defenses, or patient/provider obligations beyond the existing framework in Section 39-15-203.

Impact

The bill amends Tennessee Code Annotated Section 39-15-203(e) to expand the list of legislative officials who must receive specified abortion-related information, adding the chairs of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the House committee with jurisdiction over criminal justice-related matters. This changes the statute’s reporting and notification structure, but it does not alter the substantive abortion law itself or the underlying duties of medical providers, patients, or law enforcement. The affected parties are primarily legislative offices and any entities responsible for making the required notifications under the existing statute.

Sentiment

No committee transcripts or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of debate, support, or opposition in the available materials. Based on the text alone, the bill appears to be a technical or administrative amendment rather than a policy overhaul. The absence of recorded discussion suggests the measure may have been treated as a limited procedural update, though the subject matter—abortion—typically draws heightened attention in the legislature.

Contention

The main point of potential contention is the bill’s abortion context, since even procedural changes to abortion-related statutes can be politically sensitive. Any concern would likely center on whether expanding legislative notification to additional committee chairs increases oversight, information-sharing, or political involvement in abortion regulation. However, the bill text itself is narrowly drafted, and no specific objections or competing viewpoints are documented in the provided materials.