Abortion In Alabama

Abortion in Alabama is illegal. Under section 26-23H-4 of the Code of Alabama in the U.S. state of Alabama, it is unlawful for an abortion to be performed unless it is deemed absolutely necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk to the woman. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

Since 2014, multiple attempts were made to criminalize abortion after detection of embryonic cardiac activity (commonly referred to as a 'fetal heartbeat'),The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists states that:They also argue that the term 'fetal heartbeat' should be replaced wit
ACOG Guide to Language and Abortion
/ref> effectively banning any abortion beyond 21 days after fertilization. These attempts were unsuccessful, largely due to the extremely early deadline being perceived as an implicit violation of the right to abortion established by ''Roe v. Wade''. (Though it has now been established that there is no constitutional right to abortion) Following the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the US Supreme Court, the Human Life Protection Act was enacted as part of an unsuccessful attempt to challenge and overturn ''Roe.'' Until June 2022, the HLPA served as a trigger law, set to criminalize all abortion immediately should the Supreme Court overturn ''Roe v. Wade'', such as in the leaked draft opinion regarding ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization''. Upon the issuance of a final opinion in that case, the state successfully sought dissolution of an injunction against enforcement of the HLPA, and the law is currently in effect.

Abortion remains a divisive issue in the state, with a 2014 survey by Pew Research Center concluding that a 58% of surveyed adults in Alabama believe it should be illegal in most or all cases, and with 37% saying it should be legal. Strong correlation was observed between opposition to abortion and conservative political views. Deep religious belief was a somewhat weaker predictor of opinions. As of 2021, only three abortion clinics existed in Alabama, down from 45 in 1982. The remaining three clinics were ordered to "immediately cease and desist operations" after the overturning of ''Roe v. Wade'' on June 24, 2022.

History

Between 1892 and 1935, there were 40 prosecutions and five convictions in Alabama for women having abortions.

Legislative history

By the end of the 1800s, all states in the Union except Louisiana had therapeutic exceptions in their legislative bans on abortions. In the 19th century, bans by state legislatures on abortion were about protecting the life of the mother given the number of deaths caused by abortions; state governments saw themselves as looking out for the lives of their citizens.

By the end of 1972, Mississippi allowed abortion in cases of rape or incest only and Alabama and Massachusetts allowed abortions only in cases where the woman's physical health was endangered. In order to obtain abortions during this period, women would often travel from a state where abortion was illegal to states where it was legal.

Judicial history

The US Supreme Court's decision in 1973's ''Roe v. Wade'' ruling meant the state could no longer regulate abortion in the first trimester.

A 2016 Alabama law banned dilation & evacuation (D&E)—the most common abortion procedure used in the second trimester. In August 2018, the Eleventh Circuit ruled the D&E legislation to be unconstitutional, blocking it from being enforced. The Supreme Court of the United States denied to hear an appeal in its 2019 term.

On February 6, 2019, Ryan Magers filed a wrongful death lawsuit against an abortion clinic, Alabama Women's Center, after his girlfriend had a legal elective abortion there in January 2017. He also sued three employees of the clinic and the pharmaceutical company that manufactured the medication used to induce abortion. Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger recognized the status of the unborn fetus as a person on March 4, 2019, in accepting the case.

In May 2019, Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union said they would challenge Alabama's recently enacted abortion ban in the federal courts. In June 2019, it was reported that a woman, Marshae Jones, whose pregnancy was terminated after she was shot in the stomach in 2018 during a fight, was arrested on grounds of manslaughter of the fetus, though the case was eventually dismissed.

Clinic history

Between 1982 and 1992, the number of abortion clinics in the state decreased by 25 clinics, going from 45 in 1982 to 20 in 1992. In 2014, there were five abortion clinics in the state, and 93% of the counties in the state did not have a clinic, leaving 59% of women in the state aged 15–44 without a clinic in their county as of that year. In 2017, there were two Planned Parenthood clinics, both of which offered abortion services, in a state with a population of 1,117,288 women aged 15–49.

In March 2019, there were five abortion clinics in Alabama, and all located in metro areas. They were located in Birmingham, Huntsville, Tuscaloosa, Mobile and Montgomery. Of the five clinics operating in March 2019, one was only open on weekends.

In 2019, the Yellowhammer Fund financially assisted women at three abortion clinics in Alabama paying to have an abortion. In May and June of that year, Alabama's abortion clinics were regularly getting calls from women trying to find out if they could still use their services to get a legal abortion; legislative changes had resulted in confusion from pregnant women about their abortion rights in the state.

As of 2021, only three abortion clinics remain in Alabama: West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa, Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery, and Alabama Women's Center in Huntsville. Currently, Alabama places restrictions on the location and advertisements of abortion clinics. In order for abortion services in Alabama to remain in business at that time, they had to abide by abortion-care policies. Alabama passed additional, medically unnecessary codes, that had to be followed in order to maintain an abortion clinic. In some cases codes were passed to target specific clinics; for example, a law was enacted in 2016 that prohibited abortion clinics from renewing their current license if the clinic is within 2,000 feet of an elementary or middle school, in order to target a specific clinic. Clinics must have access to a hospital in the same statistical area as the abortion facility.

As of 2022, Alabama's three remaining abortion clinics have been ordered to stop all abortion procedures.

Alabama and cardiogenesis

Alabama was one of 23 states in 2007 to have a detailed abortion-specific informed consent requirement. By law, abortion providers in Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi were required to perform ultrasounds before providing women with abortions, even in situations such as in the first trimester, where an ultrasound has no medical necessity. In 2013, state Targeted Regulation of Abortion Providers (TRAP) law applied to medication induced abortions and private doctor offices in addition to abortion clinics.

The state legislature was one of five states nationwide that tried, and failed, to pass a so-called 'fetal heartbeat bill' in 2014. House Bill 490 prohibiting abortions once a cardiogenesis or "fetal heartbeat" is detected passed the Lower House (73–29) on March 4, 2014. The bill later died in committee. Despite this, Alabama's Lower House was the first state in the nation to pass such a bill. Alabama state legislature tried and failed in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to pass a fetal heartbeat bill, each time being joined by two, three, and seven other states.

The law as of March 2019 required women wait 24 hours after their initial appointment for an abortion before they could have a second appointment for the actual procedure. State law at the time prohibited health insurance companies on public exchanges from offering abortion services unless the life of the woman was at risk, or the pregnancy was a result of rape or incest.

Nationally, 2019 was one of the most active years for state legislatures in terms of trying to pass abortion rights restrictions. State governments with Republican majorities started to push these bills after Brett Kavanaugh was confirmed as a US Supreme Court judge, replacing the more liberal Anthony Kennedy. These state governments generally saw this as a positive sign that new moves to restrict abortion rights would face less resistance from the courts.

The Alabama Human Life Protection Act

The most recent act relating to the abortion in Alabama is "The Alabama Human Life Protection Act" also known as the Human Life Protection Act. Formally, the act has the name of House Bill 314. The bill was drafted by the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition. The bill, which banned abortions at every stage of pregnancy and made it a crime for doctors to perform the procedure (except in the case of medical emergency), was introduced into the Lower House on April 2, 2019. The bill passed the Lower House on April 30, /sup> the Senate on May 14, /sup> and was signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey on May 16, 2019. 0/sup>

Formerly, abortion was allowed in cases of incest or rape. With the introduction of the Human Life Protection Act, these cases were no longer exempt. Additionally, cases in which mothers faced mental illness were declared insufficient to provide an exception. These restrictions made the bill one of the most aggressive anti-abortion laws in American history. Although the bill was approved by Alabama legislators, Governor Kay Ivey recognized that its aggressiveness would most likely not be approved in the federal court due to ''Roe v. Wade''. Despite this, Alabama legislators hoped the introduction of the bill could weaken pre-existing abortion protections.

Shortly after the introduction of the Human Life Protection Act, Planned Parenthood and ACLU of Alabama filed a lawsuit to challenge the anti-abortion bill on May 24, 2019. Serving as plaintiffs to the case were the three remaining abortion clinics in Alabama: Alabama Women's Center, Reproductive Health Services, and the West Alabama Women's Center.

The controversial bill was set to go into effect on November 15, 2019. However, on October 29, 2019, the bill was blocked by the federal court. US District Judge Myron Thompson granted a preliminary injunction on October 28, 2019, until the court was able to resolve the case in full. Federal judge Myron H. Thompson declared the bill defied previous rulings seen in ''Roe v. Wade'' and the U.S. Constitution. Furthermore, Judge Thompson expressed that the bill could cause "serious and irreparable harm," referring to the ''Planned Parenthood Southeast v. Strange'' lawsuit from 2014 that identified a near-total ban as adding a financial burden to women and their need to access abortion services. As a result of this need, women are more likely to take unsafe measures to end pregnancies. Judge Thompson lifted the injunction after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24, 2022, allowing the law to go into effect.

Statistics

In the period between 1972 and 1974, the state had an illegal abortion mortality rate per million women aged 15–44 of between 0.1 and 0.9. In 1990, 456,000 women in the state faced the risk of an unintended pregnancy. In 2010, the state had nine publicly funded abortions, none of which were federally or state funded.

59% of Alabama women lived in a county without an abortion clinic in 2014. There was an average of one abortion clinic every 10,483 square miles that year.

Abortion incidents

Roughly 862,320 US abortions occurred in 2017. Of those, abortions in Alabama account for only 0.7 percent. Although over 6,110 abortions occurred in Alabama in 2017, not all were performed on Alabama residents. Some residents of other states have traveled to Alabama for abortions, and some Alabama residents have traveled to other states for abortions. Between 2014 and 2017 the Alabama abortion rate declined from 8 to 6 abortions per 100,000 women, a 25 percent decrease.

Restrictions on abortion

As of June 24, 2022, with the Supreme Court's overturning of Roe v. Wade, abortion in Alabama is illegal except when the life of the mother is in danger. There are not exceptions for rape or incest.

Abortion rights views and activities

Views

Abortion is a divisive issue in the state, with 37% of adults believing it should be legal in all or most cases and 58% believing it should be illegal in all or most cases in 2014. According to a 2014 Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) study, 60% of white women, the same percentage as white men, in the state believed that abortion should be illegal in all or most cases.

In 2018 Alabama, fifty-nine percent of Alabamians voted in favor of a state constitutional amendment declaring the state's policy to recognize the rights of the unborn.

Politically, the Alabama Executive Governor, Senate, and House report a majority of anti-abortion views. In recent years, white evangelical women have played a major role in helping Republican male anti-abortion rights candidates get elected. One of the biggest groups of women who oppose legalized abortion in the United States are southern white evangelical Christians.

With states like Alabama and Georgia passing restrictive abortion laws in early 2019, some businesses announced they would boycott these states. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin said that these boycotts would likely mean two tech companies would not base themselves in the city. Other states moved to try to take advantage of this political situation, including New Jersey, where Governor Phil Murphy related a statement that said, "New Jersey is open for business for any company that, given the assault on a woman's right to choose perpetrated by states like Alabama and Georgia, is seeking a home that recognizes basic constitutional rights. ..New Jersey offers not only a hospitable business climate, but also maintains its progressive values, which include defending a woman's right to choose."

Yellowhammer Fund President Amanda Reyes said in 2019, "Republicans don't have fewer abortions than Democrats or liberals or anarchists or communists. It's that our political rhetoric paints people who have abortions as largely the same—poor women, young women, irresponsible women, women who hate children. ..It's gotten us to a point where we can't see the fact that we're all having abortions, and we're doing it for reasons we personally think matters—and that's all that matters. Pro-life women are having abortions, too."

Organizations

The Yellowhammer Fund is an organization that financially assists women in Alabama who are seeking an abortion but have difficulty paying for one. In May 2020, The Yellowhammer Fund purchased West Alabama's Women Center from retiring owner, Gloria Gray. The organization purchased the clinic to ensure it would continue providing abortion services to the area. Yellowhammer Fund is currently striving to add additional services to the clinic, including hormone therapy for transgender people, midwifery and doula care, and gynecological care.

People Organizing for Women's Empowerment and Rights House (P.O.W.E.R. House) houses the Montgomery Area Reproductive Justice Coalition. It currently serves as Montgomery's only abortion clinic. Additionally, the clinic provides transportation and housing to those in need of these services.

American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama (ACLU) is an organization striving to protect the right to abortion for all people. ACLU's work centers around the courtroom to stop extreme attacks to women's reproductive rights. Additionally, ACLU ensures governmental policies provide access to affordable contraception options.

Donations

After Alabama passed its abortion legislation in 2019, The National Network of Abortion Funds received more than US$262,000 in donations from more than 12,000 people. Yellowhammer Fund also saw a surge in donations. Because of fundraising efforts by a single activist, the organization earned close to US$30,000 in donations in a three-hour period.

Protests

On May 19, 2019, women from Montgomery participated in an abortion rights march, the "March for Reproductive Freedom", outside the Alabama Capitol building as part of a #StoptheBans rally, a protest against the new abortion law signed by Governor Kay Ivey a week prior. In conjunction to this protest, other Alabama protests took place in Birmingham, Huntsville, and Mobile on May 19, 2019. The Birmingham rally was held in Kelly Ingram Park and had 2,000 supporters. The rally in Huntsville had support from 1,000 people and was held in Butler Green Park. Mobile hosted two rallies, one in Bienville Square and the other in downtown Mobile. A smaller rally supporting the movement was held in Florence, Alabama.

Anti-abortion views and activities

Activities

North Jefferson Women's Center is a non-profit family planning clinic in Fultondale that opposes abortions.  In 2019, they sought funds for a new ultrasound machine to assist pregnant women using their services. Unable to pay for it on their own, the Southern Baptist organization The Psalm 139 Project donated the funds to support the clinic, which teaches that life begins at conception. The North Jefferson Women's Center will never refer women to an abortion provider, even if the pregnant woman desires such information.

The Southern Baptist Convention held their annual convention in Birmingham in June 2019. The timing was coincidental with the efforts in the state to restrict legal abortion access, but opposing legal abortions was part of their planned two-day discussion.

Violence

On May 12, 1984, two men entered a Birmingham, Alabama clinic on Mother's Day weekend shortly after a woman opened the doors at 7:25 A.M. Forcing their way into the clinic, one of the men threatened the woman not to prevent the attack while the other, wielding a sledgehammer, did between US$7,500 and US$8,500 of damage to suction equipment. The man who damaged the equipment was later identified as Edward Markley. Markley is a Benedictine priest who was the Birmingham diocesan Coordinator for Pro-Life Activities. Markley was convicted of first-degree criminal mischief and second-degree burglary. His accomplice was not identified.

The following month, June 15, 1984, Markley entered a women's health center in Huntsville, Alabama. Kathryn Wood, one of the workers, received back injuries and a broken neck vertebrae while preventing Markley from splashing red paint on the clinic's equipment. Markley was convicted of first-degree criminal mischief, one count of third-degree assault, and one count of harassment in the Huntsville attack.

Between 1993 and 2015, 11 people were killed at American abortion clinics. The Army of God claimed responsibility for Eric Robert Rudolph's 1997 shrapnel bombing of abortion clinics in Atlanta and Birmingham. The organization embraces being labelled Christian terrorists. On January 29, 1998, Robert Sanderson, an off-duty police officer who worked as a security guard at an abortion clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, was killed when his workplace was bombed. Rudolph admitted responsibility; he was also charged with three Atlanta bombings: the 1997 bombing of an abortion center, the 1996 Centennial Olympic Park bombing, and another of a lesbian nightclub. He received two life sentences.

Footnotes

References

{{Abortion by US state

Alabama
Healthcare in Alabama
Women in Alabama