Indiana lawmakers have introduced legislation that would allow prosecutors to charge a person with murder if they received or perform an abortion.

House Bill 1334 amends the state’s existing criminal code to modify the definition of “human being” to include an unborn child. It also removes language that currently exempts abortions from the definition of murder and manslaughter and repeals the crime of “feticide” — which currently treats the killing of a fetus differently from the killing of a human being. Further, it would amend the law to allow “unborn children” to be the victims of criminal battery.

HB1334’s stated purpose is as follows:

Whereas, innocent human life, created in the image of God, should be equally protected under the laws from fertilization to natural death. Whereas, to ensure the right to life and equal protection of the laws, all preborn children should be protected with the same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born persons by repealing statutes that permit prenatal homicide and battery.

If the bill becomes law, it would define an “unborn child” to include any fertilized egg.

The bill is coauthored by three Republican members of the Indiana General Assembly: Rep. Lorissa Sweet, Rep. Lindsay Patterson, and Rep. Zach Payne.

Under the current Indiana criminal code, terminating the life of a fetus is not a criminal homicide, but rather, is an abortion or feticide which may be lawful or criminal depending upon the circumstances. In Indiana, the murder of a child under the age of 12 is a capital crime for which a prosecutor can seek the death penalty.

Therefore, there is some question as to whether the changes made under HB 1334 would lead state prosecutors to seek the execution of a woman for obtaining an abortion. Law&Crime reached out to Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita, a Republican, about whether his office would support seeking the death penalty for a woman who obtained an abortion, but did not receive a response.

Rokita is the official who unsuccessfully attempted to discipline the doctor who shared the story of a 10-year-old Ohio rape victim who traveled to Indiana for an abortion. The case gained national attention in 2022 when, after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled there is no constitutionally-protected right to abortion, Dr. Caitlin Bernard told press that she had performed a legal abortion in Indiana on a 10-year-old Ohio girl.

Bernard recently filed a lawsuit to prevent the release of medical records of individuals who terminated pregnancies. Rokita has said redactions would be made to protect the identities of patients, but argued that pregnancy termination reports do not count as medical records.

North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina are also considering legal changes similar to HB1334, which many say could put in vitro fertilization (IVF) procedures as well as pregnancy-related care at serious risk.