Image Credit: State Representative Gino Bulso / Facebook & Canva.
Article by Olivia Lupia, Tennessee Conservative News –
State Representative Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood-District 61) has filed the first piece of legislation for consideration after the General Assembly reconvenes in January of 2027, reviving a bill which would create a pathway for civil liability lawsuits related to the distribution of abortion pills in Tennessee.
HB0001/SB0002, sponsored by Joey Hensley (R-Hohenwald-District 38) in the Senate, would add to the state’s wrongful death statutes by creating a cause of action if the mother or other family members of an unborn child can prove “the abortion-inducing drug caused the death of a person.”
Current state law forbids any manufacturer, supplier, pharmacy, physician, qualified physician, or other person to “provide an abortion-inducing drug to a patient via courier, delivery, or mail service.” But there are virtually no enforcement mechanisms or ways to track pills purchased and sent via dark web services as Tennessee continues to see an uptick in abortions-by-mail.
Since state law also recognizes a “person” to include unborn children from fertilization, this bill would allow the mother or any other eligible beneficiary to bring a wrongful death suit against the pill distributors if the mother or fetus is harmed or killed as a result of the abortion.
Should the distributor be found guilty, the woman or other beneficiary would be awarded $1,000,000 in statutory damages.
However, the bill does exempt pharmacists and physicians from these suits as well as motor and air carriers, implying the target is organizations or companies themselves that send the pills.
Last year’s iteration managed to pass the House but died in the Senate as it was held on the desk during the last day of session after conference committees could not come to agreement about the bill’s language.
The bill also faced criticisms from anti-abortion advocates, which will likely be renewed next session, as it places no responsibility or accountability on the mother who obtained or took the abortion pills and ended the life of her own child, yet allows her to potentially profit from the action.
“This law incentivizes the women in this state to successfully murder their preborn child in the womb, and if a woman can prove she successfully murdered her child using mail-order pills, this law allows a pathway to receive [$1 million] for doing so. We do not believe this is what any anti-abortion individual would want, and we are incentivizing abortion for somebody who has done that horrible thing, making sure they get rich,” one constituent advocated last year.
But Bulso, along with many Republican lawmakers and pro-life advocates, dismissed these concerns, stating that Tennessee treats a woman who has an abortion “not as a perpetrator of a crime, but as a victim,” a mindset which is receiving increasing pushback from conservative constituents and some anti-abortion lawmakers and organizations.
Tennessee Right to Life (TRTL) is championing the measure, with Director of Government Relations Will Brewer confirming in a press release that TRTL “fully supports” HB0001/SB0002.
“Illegal abortion pills flooding into our State constitutes a public health crisis, leading to devastating results for unborn children and serious maternal health consequences…We are grateful to Representative Bulso and Senator Hensley for their work on this legislation and their commitment to unborn children and their mothers. We look forward to swift passage of this bill,” said Brewer.
And Bulso seems to share TRTL’s optimism about the legislation’s chances this go around, saying, “I think it’ll go very quickly and be one of the first bills that is actually passed out of the General Assembly and signed by Gov. [Elect Marsha] Blackburn.”
The 115th General Assembly is set to convene on January 12, 2027.
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About the Author: Olivia Lupia is a political refugee from Colorado who now calls Tennessee home. A proud follower of Christ, she views all political happenings through a Biblical lens and aims to utilize her knowledge and experience to educate and equip others. Olivia is an outspoken conservative who has run for local office, managed campaigns, and been highly involved with state & local GOPs, state legislatures, and other grassroots organizations and movements. Olivia can be reached at olivia@tennesseeconservativenews.com.
