By: Sarah Johnson
All over the country AL HB314, the “The Alabama Human Life Protection Act”, has been the focus of headlines, news stories and conversation. This bill was signed by Governor Kay Ivey and makes abortion and attempted abortion felony offenses in the state of Alabama. The bill has one exception for cases where an abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk to the mother. This is the strictest abortion bill in the nation, containing no exceptions for victims of rape and incest. The language in the bill says it will take effect in six months from signing, but if and when it goes into effect depends on court challenges.
Under HB314, a woman receiving an abortion is not criminally liable. The law does, however, punish a doctor who performs an abortion with a Class A felony – punishable by life or 10 to 99 years in prison. Doctors who attempt to perform an abortion could be found guilty of a Class C felony – punishable by one to 10 years in prison.
Before the bill was passed, state Democrats proposed an amendment to HB314 that would have provided an exception for victims of rape and incest; but this amendment failed 21-11. When questioned about what omission of this amendment means for women who are victimized, Alabama Senator Clyde Chambliss, defended the exclusion of these exceptions stating, “When God creates the miracle of life inside a woman’s womb. It is not our place as human beings to extinguish that life.” He went on to assert that the law specifically bars abortions when a woman is “known to be pregnant.”
Interestingly this “known to be pregnant” language could potentially allow victims of crimes which could result in pregnancy to take some actions ahead of a pregnancy test. One possible action is the Plan B pill; Plan B can prevent a pregnancy if taken shortly after sexual contact (within 48 hours). You have to be 18 years old to purchase Plan B and it is only sold over the counter at pharmacies. So this bill might allow for women to get a doctor’s help to terminate a pregnancy if she believes she could be pregnant, but puts intense time pressure on women to immediately seek “treatment” if they have unprotected sex, are raped, or are a victim of incest.
A common message about the bill from legislators in Alabama is they do not expect the strict law to take effect, but instead passed it with the intention to get the most conservative Supreme Court in many decades to reconsider reconsider the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade ruling. As most of us know, Roe v. Wade legalized abortion nationwide. The court ruled the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution provides a fundamental “right to privacy”. This right protects a pregnant woman’s liberty to choose whether or not to have an abortion. Alabama state Representative Terri Collins told the Washington Post, “What I’m trying to do here is get this case in front of the Supreme Court so Roe v. Wade can be overturned.”
Gov. Kay Ivey noted, at the time of her signing the legislation, that it was all but certain to be challenged in court,
“No matter one’s personal view on abortion, we can all recognize that, at least for the short term, this bill may similarly be unenforceable. Many Americans, myself included, disagreed when Roe v. Wade was handed down in 1973. The sponsors of this bill believe that it is time, once again, for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit this important matter, and they believe this act may bring about the best opportunity for this to occur.”
Since the signing of the bill the American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have indeed filed suit to challenge AL HB314.
Many states around the nation have passed or are working to pass bans on abortion after a heartbeat can be detected by a doctor (this usually happens around week six although the science is a bit murky). Most women do not know they are pregnant at six weeks because a usual menstrual cycle is four weeks, but that varies person to person and cycle to cycle, and it is not uncommon for a woman to have a late period due to many different factors (stress, diet, weight, medication and other health related reasons). Therefore these bills are effectively a straightforward ban on all abortions, except in the case of the health of the mother. Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio have all passed and signed fetal heartbeat bills too.
Here is a map of all the current legislation in the US relating to fetal heartbeats (ranging from anti-abortion to pro-choice).
An interesting side note to this bill is Governor Ivey signed a bill into law requiring people convicted of a sexual offenses against children under the age of 13 to begin chemical castration one month prior to their release from custody. The law requires this treatment continues until a court deems it is no longer necessary. The bill also states offenders must pay for the treatment. Offenders cannot be denied parole solely based on an inability to pay for the chemical castration treatments. When asked about the bill, Governor Ivey said, “This bill is a step toward protecting children in Alabama”.
You may want to contrast this bill with the Illinois Reproductive Health Act to see the diametrically opposed viewpoints states are taking on the abortion issue.
Cover Photo by Ali Hajiluyi on Unsplash
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