Source:
https://scmp.com/news/world/united-states-canada/article/3011760/us-rights-groups-planned-parenthood-and-american
World/ United States & Canada

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union sue Alabama over ‘blatantly unconstitutional’ abortion ban

  • Legal action taken after Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the measure that makes abortion a felony
Dr. Yashica Robinson, is greeted with a hug from Josie Poland, a clinic escort, while arriving for work at the Alabama Women’s Wellness Center in Huntsville. Photo: AP Photo

Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit on Friday against Alabama over the southern state’s new near-total ban on abortion.

“This law is blatantly unconstitutional, and the ACLU will not stand by while politicians emboldened by President (Donald) Trump’s anti-abortion agenda exploit our health and our lives for political gain,” said ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project senior staff attorney Alexa Kolbi-Molinas.

Earlier this month, Governor Kay Ivey signed into law the measure that makes abortion a felony – even in cases of rape or incest – unless the mother’s health is at risk, triggering protests in the state and beyond.

It punishes doctors with up to 99 years in prison for providing the procedure.

Protesters, dressed as handmaids, wait outside the Alabama statehouse after a ban on nearly all abortions passed the senate in Montgomery. Photo: AP
Protesters, dressed as handmaids, wait outside the Alabama statehouse after a ban on nearly all abortions passed the senate in Montgomery. Photo: AP

The ban is due to take effect on November 15, and if it goes ahead, Alabama abortion providers “will be forced to stop providing and/or referring abortions”, read the lawsuit filed on their behalf in federal court in the state.

“Enforcement of the ban will thereby inflict immediate and irreparable harm on plaintiffs’ patients by violating their constitutional rights, threatening their health and well-being, and forcing them to continue their pregnancies to term against their will.”

The law goes against the landmark 1973 US Supreme Court ruling, Roe v Wade, that made abortion legal nationwide, but the text’s sponsors say it’s an effort to get the top court to revisit its decision.

Several other Republican-led states have also passed tough abortion laws they hope will eventually end up before the Supreme Court in hopes it will reverse Roe v Wade.

The ACLU and Planned Parenthood Federation of America filed the suit with the ACLU of Alabama.