Abortion industry giants and their political allies condemned a ban on most abortions passed by the Alabama State Senate Tuesday and headed to Gov. Kay Ivey’s desk.
“This is the most extreme and dangerous policy since Roe vs. Wade, banning abortion at any point in pregnancy — going so far as to threaten doctors with life-in-prison,” tweeted Dr. Leana Wen, president of Planned Parenthood:
This is the most extreme and dangerous policy since Roe vs. Wade, banning abortion at any point in pregnancy — going so far as to threaten doctors with life-in-prison.
Doctors and public health leaders agree: the cost will be women’s lives. https://t.co/qcC8VtoAnu
— Leana Wen, M.D. (@DrLeanaWen) May 15, 2019
BREAKING: Alabama legislators just passed the most extreme abortion ban in the country — an outright ban on abortion that criminalizes doctors and threatens them with life in prison for providing patients with health care.
This ban cannot and will not stand. #HB314 #ALpolitics pic.twitter.com/r4EwPPgMNa
— Planned Parenthood Action (@PPact) May 15, 2019
NARAL condemned the pro-life lawmakers in Alabama as “misogynists” and the legislation itself as an “incredibly dangerous attack on reproductive freedom”:
BREAKING: Misogynists in Alabama just passed the most extreme anti-choice measure in the country—a TOTAL ban on abortion. This incredibly dangerous attack on reproductive freedom is now headed to the governor’s desk. #HB314 #ALPolitics pic.twitter.com/t1wzwRQNME
— NARAL (@NARAL) May 15, 2019
Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL, is using the passage of the Alabama bill to fundraise:
Breaking: Alabama Senate just passed a total abortion ban in the state. @NARAL is raising money for @YellowFund an abortion fund to help women facing this dangerous and demeaning law. Help us help them. Donate here! https://t.co/xu1mawZ4oN
— ilyse hogue (@ilyseh) May 15, 2019
“Abortion is NOT a crime — it’s a constitutional right,” tweeted the ACLU:
BREAKING: Alabama's legislature just passed a law that criminalizes doctors and makes abortion illegal.
Abortion is NOT a crime — it's a constitutional right.
We will sue to stop this law from ever taking effect.
— ACLU (@ACLU) May 15, 2019
Alabama’s Senate passed HB 314, known as the “Human Life Protection Act,” 25-6 Tuesday to protect the lives of unborn children and ban all abortions in the state except when it “is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk” to the woman. The bill has no exemptions for cases of rape and incest, and is due to take effect six months after the Republican governor signs it into law.
Liberty Counsel, a non-profit litigation firm, noted the bill reclassifies abortion as a Class A felony, punishable by up to 99 years in prison for abortionists. Women who undergo an abortion, however, “will not be criminally liable.”
The bill is intended to challenge the Supreme Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, in which the high court invented a right to abortion, though none existed in the Constitution.
“The heart of this bill is to confront a decision that was made by the courts in 1973 that said the baby in the womb is not a person,” said Republican Alabama Rep. Terri Collins, who sponsored the legislation. “This bill addresses that one issue. Is that baby in the womb a person? I believe our law says it is. I believe our people say it is. And I believe technology shows it is.”
Democrat politicians, including many 2020 presidential hopefuls, condemned Alabama’s legislation:
Women’s rights are under attack. This relentless and cruel Republican assault on women’s health is designed to force a court battle to destroy Roe v. Wade. Democrats will be ready to defend health care and women’s reproductive freedom.
— Nancy Pelosi (@TeamPelosi) May 15, 2019
Alabama lawmakers are making all abortions a felony punishable w jailtime,incl women victimized by rape+incest.
Of course, no added punishments for rapists.
It’s going to @GovernorKayIvey‘s desk. She will decide the future of women’s rights in Alabama.https://t.co/IRR0EtsxHp
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) May 15, 2019
Appalling news out of #Alabama as lawmakers vote to effectively criminalize abortion. It’s time to stand up and speak out. We must defeat this unconstitutional and shameless attempt to strip women of their right to make health care choices. https://t.co/VgiJ0stS6r
— Julián Castro (@JulianCastro) May 15, 2019
Alabama just passed a near-total ban on abortion.
No exceptions for rape or incest.
Doctors could face 99 years in prison for providing abortions.
This is a war on women, and it is time to fight like hell. https://t.co/lhwlbyeQsl
— Kirsten Gillibrand (@SenGillibrand) May 15, 2019
This bill in Alabama is effectively a ban on abortion. This is wrong. This is unconstitutional. https://t.co/dsRWqAY4PW
Screen Shot 2019-05-14 at 9.35.41 PM.png— Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) May 15, 2019
The Alabama Senate just stripped women of health care rights by voting to make abortion procedures a felony. I will fight in solidarity with women to make sure rights guaranteed by Roe v. Wade will not be threatened by those who have no business making laws about their bodies. https://t.co/hS1a2lNEc0
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) May 15, 2019
What Alabama is doing is blatantly unconstitutional and disrespects the fundamental right a woman has to make decisions about her own body.
I say to Gov. Ivey: Veto this cruel bill. Stop the attack on women’s rights. https://t.co/yByOIyJ6XL
— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) May 15, 2019
Outrageous news coming out of Alabama. This law would effectively ban abortions in the state and criminalize doctors for doing their jobs – providing health care to women. https://t.co/90utkxn7J2
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 15, 2019
However, Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, called the approval of the bill “a landmark victory for the people of Alabama who, like most Americans, overwhelmingly reject the extreme status quo of abortion on demand imposed nationwide by Roe v. Wade.”
"The American people want a fresh debate and a new direction, achieved by consensus and built on love for both mothers and babies. The time is coming for the Supreme Court to let that debate go forward."
– @marjoriesba https://t.co/OdF3qbu4iC #ProLife #AlabamaAbortionBan— Susan B. Anthony List (@SBAList) May 15, 2019
Dannenfelser added:
Across the nation there is growing momentum, informed by science and compassion, and spurred on in reaction to abortion extremism in New York and Virginia, to recognize the humanity of the unborn child in the law. It is clearer than ever that Roe is far from being settled law in the eyes and hearts of the American people, and this is increasingly reflected in state legislatures. The American people want a fresh debate and a new direction, achieved by consensus and built on love for both mothers and babies. The time is coming for the Supreme Court to let that debate go forward.
Mat Staver, Liberty Counsel founder and chairman, observed that “Roe v. Wade has already ended the lives of more than 62 million children.”
“While we cannot undo the horrendous damage that decades of legal precedence under Roe have caused, this bill is a significant step toward making the womb a safe place in Alabama again,” he said.
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