Pro-Choice Groups Sue Alabama over Abortion Law

As promised, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood are suing the state of Alabama in an attempt to prevent its anti-abortion law from going into effect in November. 

This response is exactly what GOP lawmakers expected and wanted, because the lawsuits will help push the issue to the conservative-leaning Supreme Court.

“We’ve been clear: If you attack our constitutional right to reproductive freedom, we will sue,” wrote the ACLU on Friday. “Politicians’ stated intention behind Alabama’s extreme abortion ban is to directly challenge Roe v. Wade. We’re asking the court today to follow more than 45 years of established precedent and strike down this blatantly unconstitutional law.”

At this point, it is unclear whether the conservative majority in the Supreme Court would overturn Roe v. Wade.

“Make no mistake: Abortion remains – and will remain – safe and legal in Alabama,” promised ACLU executive Randall Marshall. “With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect. We hope our state’s elected leaders take note and stop using taxpayer dollars on a legal gamble that they know is unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

The Alabama law bans all abortions excepting cases were pregnancy endangers the life of the mother. The law labels abortion a “Class A felony” punishable by up to 99 years in prison.

“This bill is about challenging Roe v. Wade and protecting the lives of the unborn because an unborn baby is a person who deserves love and protection,” says Alabama State Rep. Terri Collins.

Alabama’s law is even more strict than so-called “heartbeat” bills, which ban abortion after the point at which a fetal heartbeat can be detected (usually about six weeks into a pregnancy).

Seven states have passed heartbeat bills this year, but none have taken effect. 

We can expect the Supreme Court to hear arguments on the Alabama case sometime during the term that begins in October, with a final decision coming smack in the middle of the 2020 presidential election.

Based on past actions, however, the high court is more likely to adopt a step-by-step approach than reverse Roe v. Wade.

As noted in The Washington Post, “Multiple cases involving abortion restrictions less fundamental than the Alabama law…are already at the Supreme Court, and the justices could decide at any time to take one or all.”

Editor’s note: The liberals under Barack Obama pushed abortion to the edge, to the point where a child ready to be born can still be aborted. This is unconsionable.  In my personal view, I’m not sure life begins with conception, but I am sure that a baby that can survive outside of the womb should have human rights.