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Opinion: Tennessee legislature discussing abortion and the death penalty, just as it was 50 years ago

Contributed Photo / The view from the witness gallery looks into the execution chamber, where a gurney and an electric chair sit, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.
Contributed Photo / The view from the witness gallery looks into the execution chamber, where a gurney and an electric chair sit, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville. Contributed Photo / The view from the witness gallery looks into the execution chamber, where a gurney and an electric chair sit, at the Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville.

By Clint Cooper 5 min read

Fifty years ago this week, Tennessee legislators were discussing — go figure — abortion and capital punishment, two of the same topics that have been prominent among the issues debated in this year’s session.

But a few things have changed since 1973.

That year, a Republican governor signed a bill permitting abortions, which had been outlawed since 1883. And Democrats led the fight to reinstate capital punishment.

In 2023, no GOP legislator would say he or she was in favor of abortion, though earlier this year the legislature did approve a bill allowing the merest exceptions in the state’s near ban on the procedure. And no Democrat today would be on record in favor of capital punishment.

Of course, there are a few caveats.