Alabama’s House has passed what would be one of the nation’s strictest anti-abortion laws, leaving no exceptions for victims of rape or incest and making it a felony to perform the procedure.
Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, said the bill is designed to force the matter to the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court in an effort to overturn Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that gave women the right to terminate a pregnancy.
The bill passed 74 to 3; most Democrats had walked out before the vote. The bill now goes to the State Senate.
The measure has drawn national attention. Here’s what they are saying:
The Hill
Alabama bill banning nearly all abortions passes House almost unanimously
“The people of Alabama are paying the bill for unconstitutional legislation and we hope that the Senate members will realize its detrimental impact and stop this bill from becoming law," a statement from the ACLU read. “Otherwise it will be challenged in federal court.”
NBC News
Abortion ban designed to challenge Roe v. Wade passes Alabama House
“Emboldened by new conservatives on the Supreme Court, abortion opponents in several states are seeking to incite new legal fights in the hopes of challenging Roe v. Wade. The Alabama bill comes on the heels of several states considering or approving bans on abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, which occurs in about the sixth week of pregnancy.”
CBS News
Alabama abortion doctors could face up to 99 years in jail in newly approved state abortion ban
“Because federal law supersedes state law, Alabama would be in violation of the U.S. Constitution if lawmakers attempted to implement the legislation, noted several politicians. If passed, the legislation would likely join a host of other contested laws that anti-abortion activists hope will rise to the Supreme Court and potentially overturn Roe v. Wade. The proposed law flatly rejects the decision, saying that “judges and legal scholars have disagreed and dissented with its finding.”
NY Post
Alabama House approves near total abortion ban
“Supporters said the bill is intentionally designed to conflict with the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion nationally, hoping to spark court cases that might prompt the justices to revisit Roe. The bill contains an exemption for situations in which there is a serious risk to the mother’s health, but not for rape and incest.”
USA Today
Alabama House approves near total ban on abortion
“The legislation does not provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Abortions could only be performed if the life of the mother was threatened, or if a mental illness meant giving birth would lead to the woman’s death or that of her child. The bill would also provide an exception for a “lethal anomaly,” where the child would die shortly after birth or be stillborn.”
The Cut
Alabama House Overwhelmingly Passes Bill That Would Make Abortion a Felony
“The bill also contains a chain of outrageous anti-abortion talking points, comparing abortion to the Holocaust and other genocides. It bewails that “more than 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since the Roe decision in 1973, more than three times the number who were killed in German death camps, Chinese purges, Stalin’s gulags, Cambodian killing fields, and the Rwandan genocide combined.”