Planned Parenthood Among Groups Suing Alabama Over ‘Extreme’ Abortion Ban
Abortion clinic and healthcare provider Planned Parenthood and The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) are two U.S. groups that have sued Alabama so far over their rigid abortion law passed last week, reported the BBC.
The groups, who refer to the law as “extreme” and a “manmade public health emergency,” are calling for a court order to ban the new law that has yet to take effect but would ban abortions in almost all situations, including rape and incest. The law would only allow for abortion in very rare cases, such as a medical emergency or fatal fetal condition.
Any physician attempting to perform an abortion or actually going through with the procedure would receive a hefty prison sentence of up to 99 years.
Executive director of the Alabama ACLU Randall Marshall declared, “Abortion remains – and will remain – safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect.”
The southern state expected an appeals process on the law in the hope that it would eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court and allow them to challenge Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court ruling in 1973 that protected a woman’s right to choose whether or not to have an abortion.
BREAKING: We just filed our lawsuit to stop Alabama's abortion ban from ever going into effect. pic.twitter.com/o3j25NsaHM
— ACLU (@ACLU) May 24, 2019
Anti-abortion supporters are emboldened by the fact that the addition of two conservative judges to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, may sway the decision in their favor.
Alabama is just one of several U.S. states that have enacted anti-abortion laws. On Friday, Missouri became the latest state to pass an anti-abortion law that would ban abortions after eight weeks, leaving no exceptions for rape or incest.
Other states that have banned abortions after a fetal heartbeat can be detected are Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, and Ohio.
Alabama woman Dr. Yashica Robinson, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, spoke out about the issue.
“[Alabama women] already have to overcome so much just to get to our doors and this law further shames them, punishes providers like myself and stigmatizes essential healthcare.”
In addition to the lawsuits against Alabama, thousands of people have taken part in rallies across the country to protest the anti-abortion restrictions.
The ACLU and Planned Parenthood are optimistic about being able to overturn the law, stating that they have “never lost a challenge to an abortion restriction in Alabama.” They are also challenging laws passed in Ohio and Georgia.
