By Ellen Gerst Chattanooga Times Free Press, Tenn. (TNS) & Tribune Media Services

People wait for a Senate hearing to begin to discuss a fetal heartbeat abortion ban, or possibly something more restrictive, Monday, Aug. 12, 2019, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)AP

Tennesseans could be charged with the felony of “abortion trafficking” for helping someone under 18 terminate a pregnancy by traveling out of state or helping them obtain abortion-inducing medication under a bill proposed this week by a Knoxville state representative.

The legislation targets any abortion but specifies that an adult who “recruits, harbors or transports” the teen within Tennessee in such circumstances would be committing a crime “regardless of where the abortion is to be procured.”

Abortion rights advocates say the bill will primarily target people going out-of-state, given that almost no abortions have been performed in Tennessee since a ban went into effect in August 2022.

House Bill 1895, brought by Rep. Jason Zachary, R-Knoxville, would also allow the parents or maternal grandparents of an aborted fetus to sue for damages.

Zachary told WVLT bill stems from a situation in Knox County in the last year, where parents were unaware that someone was taking their daughter to get an abortion.

If an adult takes a minor, that’s not their child, to another state for an abortion, that would be a Class C felony, resulting in three to 15 years in prison under Zachary’s proposal, the station reported.

Ashley Coffield, CEO of Planned Parenthood of Tennessee and North Mississippi, said the bill puts minors and their family members in a difficult spot. “It could potentially even get them thrown out of their home.”

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