16 May 2019 - Alabama introduces a near total abortion ban, with no exception for rape or incest
As States Race to Limit Abortions, Alabama Goes Further, Seeking to Outlaw Most of Them
Timothy Williams and Alan Blinder (The New York Times, 08/05/2019)
Amid a flurry of new limits on abortion being sought in states around the nation, Alabama is weighing a measure that would go further than all of them — outlawing most abortions almost entirely.
The effort in Alabama, where the State Senate could vote as soon as Thursday, is unfolding as Republicans, emboldened by President Trump and the shifting alignment of the Supreme Court, intensify a long-running campaign to curb abortion access.
Yet the Alabama measure is also a departure from the incremental strategy that abortion critics have often pursued: There is nothing gradual about the sweeping ban that the state’s lawmakers are considering.
These 25 Republicans – all white men – just voted to ban abortion in Alabama
Erin Durkin and Max Benwell (The Guardian, 15/05/2019)
Alabama’s new law mandating an almost blanket ban on abortion, the strictest in the United States, was passed by this group of exclusively white, male politicians.
The Alabama law will disproportionately affect black and poor women, because they are more likely to seek abortions, and less likely to have resources to obtain an abortion out-of-state.
Of the 27 Republicans, all white men, that dominate the 35-seat Alabama senate, 25 voted to pass the bill late on Tuesday.
Alabama's extreme abortion ban spotlights how the Supreme Court's conservative majority is emboldening Republicans to launch a coordinated attack on Roe v. Wade
Eliza Relman (Business Insider, 15/05/2019)
Abortion rights activists say an Alabama bill effectively banning all abortions is part of a coordinated effort by GOP lawmakers to overturn the Supreme Court's precedent in Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion in 1973.
"These bans are part of a coordinated national strategy to overturn Roe and take away a woman's ability to make personal decisions," Julie Rikelman of the Center for Reproductive Rights told INSIDER.
Legal experts say that if Alabama's bill becomes law, it will quickly be challenged in court and struck down as unconstitutional.
But many legal experts believe the Supreme Court's conservative majority is willing to accept an abortion case for hearing this year and strike down Roe's key protections.
Alabama is just the beginning - this republican strategy goes way beyond abortion rights
Max Burns (The Independent, 16/05/2019)
This week, Alabama Republicans lurched the United States closer to a Constitutional crisis with the passage of a bill banning abortion from the moment of conception, and punishing doctors who protect the lives of women with up to 99 years in prison.
A cabal of 25 Republican men drew the curtain on abortion rights in Alabama, where only three women sit in the state Senate. Their monstrosity of an abortion bill provides no exceptions for victims of rape or incest, creating a perverse scenario where a woman’s rapist could be out of jail in as little as two years, while a doctor who provides the same woman an abortion would die in prison.
The inarguable cruelty of Alabama’s abortion ban has the American Civil Liberties Union already preparing a legal challenge in federal court.
Alabama Governor Signs Abortion Bill. Here’s What Comes Next
Alan Blinder (The New York Times, 15/05/2019)
Alabama’s governor on Wednesday signed into law a measure to ban most abortions in the state. But the Legislature’s approval and the governor’s signature did not immediately outlaw the procedure, and it is far from clear when, or even if, the measure will ultimately take effect.
Here’s a guide to what happened, and what is likely to happen next.
Stephen Colbert invokes 'The Handmaid's Tale' in slamming Alabama's abortion ban
Johnny Lieu (Mashable, 16/05/2019)
Alabama's near-total abortion ban has made many of us furious, including Stephen Colbert, who tackled the legislation on The Late Show on Wednesday night.
"That, is either an overreach by the Alabama GOP, or some pretty intense viral marketing for the new season of The Handmaid's Tale," Colbert quipped.
"I don't get it. If a TV show has to become reality, why can't it be Star Trek, so they can beam me off this planet?"
The bill threatens doctors with 99-year jail terms if convicted of performing one in-state, and offers no exception for victims of rape or incest.