May 15, 2019

Outrage and Dire Warnings After Alabama Effectively Bans Abortion

“This ban is dangerous and exceptionally cruel.”

As Republicans lawmakers in Alabama shared fist bumps and cheers after passing a measure that would effectively ban abortions in the state, Democrats and reproductive rights activists around the country are expressing outrage over the legislation, which many fear could trigger a Supreme Court challenge to Roe v. Wade.

The measure, which is expected to be signed by Alabama’s pro-life Republican governor, would be the most restrictive abortion ban in the country. It would also make it a felony punishable of up to 99 years in prison for doctors who perform abortions. In a particularly controversial move, Republicans rejected the inclusion of exceptions for cases of rape or incest.

Democratic White House hopefuls were nearly unanimous in condemning the bill and warned that the bill was designed to ignite a renewed fight to roll back abortion rights on the national level.

The Alabama vote—which comes at a time when other states such as Georgia and Kentucky are seeking limit abortion access with so-called “heartbeat bills”—follows Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer’s own warning earlier this week that conservative members of the court were increasingly eager to overturn established legal precedents. In doing so, Breyer cited Planned Parenthood v. Casey, a 1992 ruling that essentially upheld Roe—a reference widely interpreted as an indication that he believes abortion rights are in danger.

Appearing on CNN Wednesday morning, Alabama Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D) slammed the bill for making the women of Alabama “the model of the new Roe v. Wade.” He continued, “I think that this is just a horrible bill, and hopefully, if it gets to that level to the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court will not select this as a test case.” 

Reproductive rights groups and other prominent activists also voiced their anger. Almost immediately after the bill’s passage on Tuesday, the ACLU announced that it would mount a legal challenge to stop it from becoming law.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate