Alabama's Abortion Law: 6-Month Wait, Why?

Alabama's abortion law, the Human Life Protection Act, was passed in May 2019 and is one of the most restrictive in the US. The law bans abortions at every stage of pregnancy and makes it a crime for doctors to perform the procedure unless there is a serious health risk to the mother. The bill was blocked by a federal court in October 2019 and an injunction was granted until June 2022 when the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, allowing the Act to go into effect. The Supreme Court's decision means that the law will take effect 6 months after the initial ruling.

The Alabama Human Life Protection Act

The Act was drafted by the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition and introduced into the Lower House on April 2, 2019. It passed the Lower House on April 30, the Senate on May 14, and was signed into law by then-Governor Kay Ivey on May 16, 2019.

The Act is a direct challenge to the 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling by the US Supreme Court, which legalised abortion nationwide. The bill's sponsors believed that it was time for the Supreme Court to revisit this decision and that the Act may bring about the best opportunity for this to occur.

The Act makes it a Class A felony for a doctor to perform an abortion, punishable by 10 to 99 years in prison. However, women seeking abortions will not face criminal penalties. The Act also does not make exceptions for cases of incest, rape, or human trafficking, unlike other states with similar bans.

The Act was initially blocked by a federal court in October 2019, as it defied previous rulings in Roe v. Wade and the US Constitution. US District Judge Myron Thompson granted a preliminary injunction until the court could fully resolve the case. Judge Thompson expressed concern that the bill could cause "serious and irreparable harm", referring to a 2014 lawsuit that identified a near-total ban as adding a financial burden to women seeking abortion services.

On June 24, 2022, following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, the same judge who implemented the injunction lifted it, allowing the Alabama Human Life Protection Act to go into effect. As a result, the remaining three abortion clinics in Alabama were ordered to cease operating.

Roe v. Wade

The case was brought by Norma McCorvey, under the legal pseudonym "Jane Roe", who, in 1969, became pregnant with her third child. McCorvey wanted an abortion but lived in Texas, where abortion was illegal except when necessary to save the mother's life. Her lawyers, Sarah Weddington and Linda Coffee, filed a lawsuit on her behalf in U.S. federal court against her local district attorney, Henry Wade, alleging that Texas's abortion laws were unconstitutional.

In January 1973, the Supreme Court issued a 7-2 decision in McCorvey's favour, holding that the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides a fundamental "right to privacy", which protects a pregnant woman's right to an abortion. It also held that the right to abortion is not absolute and must be balanced against the government's interests in protecting women's health and prenatal life. It resolved these competing interests by announcing a pregnancy trimester timetable to govern all abortion regulations in the United States.

The Supreme Court's decision in Roe was among the most controversial in U.S. history. In addition to the dissent, Roe was criticized by some in the legal community, including some who thought that Roe reached the correct result but went about it the wrong way, and some called the decision a form of judicial activism.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overruled Roe and Casey in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization on the grounds that the substantive right to abortion was not "deeply rooted in this Nation's history or tradition", nor considered a right when the Due Process Clause was ratified in 1868, and was unknown in U.S. law until Roe.

On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court ruled 6-3 to uphold Mississippi's Gestational Age Act, and 5-4 to overrule Roe and Casey. Similar to the leaked draft opinion, the opinion of the court written by Justice Alito stated that Roe was "egregiously wrong from the start" and its reasoning "exceptionally weak". It also stated that Roe has "enflamed debate and deepened division" and that overruling it would "return the issue of abortion to the people's elected representatives".

The majority opinion relied on a constitutional historical view of abortion rights, saying, "The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision." The reasoning was that "abortion couldn't be constitutionally protected. Until the latter part of the 20th century, such a right was entirely unknown in American law. Indeed, when the Fourteenth Amendment was adopted, three quarters of the States made abortion a crime at all stages of pregnancy."

Some historians have argued that this view is incomplete. In their dissent, Justices Stephen Breyer, Elena Kagan, and Sonia Sotomayor jointly wrote, "The right Roe and Casey recognized does not stand alone. To the contrary, the Court has linked it for decades to other settled freedoms involving bodily integrity, familial relationships, and procreation. Most obviously, the right to terminate a pregnancy arose straight out of the right to purchase and use contraception. In turn, those rights led, more recently, to rights of same-sex intimacy and marriage. Either the mass of the majority's opinion is hypocrisy, or additional constitutional rights are under threat. It is one or the other."

No exceptions for rape or incest

Alabama's abortion law, which was passed in May 2019, is one of the most restrictive in the country. The law makes it a felony to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy and does not include exceptions for cases of rape or incest. This means that even if a woman becomes pregnant as a result of a criminal act, she would not be able to legally obtain an abortion in Alabama.

The lack of exceptions for rape or incest in the Alabama abortion law has been a highly controversial aspect of the legislation. Critics argue that it demonstrates a lack of empathy for victims of sexual violence and that it further traumatizes women who have already experienced a horrific crime. They also argue that it infringes on a woman's constitutional right to make decisions about her own body and reproductive health.

The supporters of the law, however, argue that it is designed to protect the unborn child, regardless of the circumstances of its conception. They believe that life begins at conception and that abortion is equivalent to murder. By not including exceptions for rape or incest, they aim to uphold this belief and protect what they consider to be the rights of the fetus.

The impact of this law on victims of sexual violence cannot be overstated. Forcing a woman to carry a pregnancy to term, especially if it is the result of rape or incest, can cause significant physical, emotional, and psychological harm. It can also lead to practical difficulties, particularly for young or financially insecure women, further compounding an already traumatic situation.

While the Alabama abortion law is currently blocked from being enforced due to legal challenges, it represents a significant setback for women's rights and reproductive freedom in the state. The lack of exceptions for rape or incest underscores the need for continued advocacy and legal protections to ensure that women retain control over their own bodies and are not further victimized by restrictive and inhumane legislation.

Doctors face felony charges

On May 15, 2019, Alabama's governor, Kay Ivey, signed the country's most restrictive anti-abortion bill into law. The law, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy, will not take effect for another six months, during which opponents have vowed to file legal action to overturn the law.

The bill makes it a class A felony for a doctor to perform an abortion in the state, punishable by 10 to 99 years in prison. Attempting an abortion is considered a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison. The state will not file criminal charges against a pregnant woman who has an abortion.

Several major physician groups have spoken out against the new law, stating that physicians should never face imprisonment or other penalties for providing necessary care. The American Medical Association also said that the government was interfering in decisions that should be made between a patient and doctor.

The Alabama legislation is part of a trend across the US in which Republican-controlled states are attempting to put new restrictions on abortion.

Abortion rights protests

On 24 June 2022, Alabama began enforcing its total abortion ban, which prohibits abortion at all stages of pregnancy. The law makes it a crime to perform the procedure at any stage of pregnancy, with the only exception being when the woman's health is at serious risk. The law does not include exceptions for rape, incest, or human trafficking.

The abortion ban in Alabama has sparked protests and civil disobedience from abortion rights activists across the United States. Here is a rundown of some of the abortion rights protests that have taken place:

Washington, D.C.

On 24 June 2024, abortion rights advocates gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court Building to mark two years since the Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ruling, which reversed federal protections for access to abortions.

San Francisco Bay Area

On 24 June 2022, the day the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, protesters gathered at the San Francisco Civic Center and the Phillip Burton Federal Building. Activists from Reproductive Justice, along with other organizations, urged people to show up and express their outrage over the decision. They also called for civil disobedience by blocking a key intersection.

Florida

On 13 July 2024, abortion rights supporters protested in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after the state's health department tried to block a TV advertisement in support of a ballot measure that would protect abortion rights. A federal judge ruled that the state could not censor political speech and that abortion providers were not breaking the law.

Alabama

Outside the Alabama State House, protesters wore costumes from *The Handmaid's Tale* and carried signs, one of which read, "Alabama does not own me."

Georgia

After Georgia instituted a six-week ban on abortion, protests broke out over whether to allow legal abortions for women who become pregnant from rape or incest.

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