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AUSTIN, Texas – A new bill being considered in Texas could make having an abortion punishable by death.

House Bill 896 would classify abortion as homicide, making women who abort pregnancies subject to the death penalty if prosecutors choose to pursue it, according to KTTV.

According to the New York Daily News, the bill is meant to protect “the right of an unborn child.”

“A living human child, from the moment of fertilization on fusion of a human spermatozoon with the human ovum, is entitled to the same rights, powers, and privileges as are secured or granted by the laws of this state to any other human child,” the proposed legislation reads.

Controversy settles around the thought of “murdering” a woman for killing her unborn baby, according to some lawmaker. Other lawmakers argue that if a person murders a pregnant woman, they are charged with two murders, saying this would be no different.

The bill must now be presented before the full Texas House for debate.