ACLU Files Suit To Stop Abortion Ban In Alabama

MONTGOMERY, AL - Ten days ago, the Alabama legislature passed the most restrictive anti-abortion bill in the country, sparking protesters and supporters of the bill nationally to turn their attention to Alabama. As expected, the controversial bill has also prompted the American Civil Liberties Union to file a lawsuit against the state to stop the abortion ban from going into effect.

The ACLU, along with the Planned Parenthood Federation of Alabama filed the lawsuit Friday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama on behalf of abortion providers in the state.

The bill would make it a Class A felony for a doctor to perform an abortion and a Class C felony for attempting to perform an abortion unless there is a serious health risk to the mother. There are no exceptions in the bill for cases of rape or incest.

"Indeed, as even the sponsors and supporters of the law — even Governor Ivey herself — admit, the ban is blatantly unconstitutional," said the ACLU in a statement. "For more than 45 years, the Supreme Court has repeatedly — and unequivocally — held that the freedom to decide whether and when to have a child is one of the most intimate and personal decisions a person can make in their lifetime, and is central to the liberty protected by the Fourteenth Amendment."

The legislation was drafted by Eric Johnston of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition and framed as an attempt to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that struck down state bans on abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth said as much two weeks ago after the vote on the bill was delayed. "Abortion is murder," Ainsworth said in a statement. "Now that President Donald Trump has supercharged the effort to remake the federal court system by appointing conservative jurists who will strictly interpret the Constitution, I feel confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe and finally correct its 46-year-old mistake."

"When all is said and done, Alabama will have wasted millions of dollars of taxpayer money in a fight it won’t win," the ACLU said. "But people need to keep making sure their voices are heard. Emboldened by President Trump’s anti-abortion agenda, state lawmakers are trying to pass laws intended to politicize the Supreme Court and strip Americans of their constitutional rights."

The ACLU is not the only organization pushing back against the state. Two technology companies that were considering putting technology operations in Birmingham have put their plans on hold, citing the abortion ban.

“Last week I reached out to some of our delegation members and I reached out to the governor’s office and I spoke to the fact as it relates to tourism dollars and economic opportunities and two companies picking up the phone and voicing their concern where they were with relocating here or expanding here that has caused some friction,” said Birmingham mayor Randall Woodfin. “I absolutely have not given up. I talked with my economic development team members this morning about how we can engage in conversations to reach out to appeal directly to these organizations to continue their efforts to be here in the city of Birmingham. They wanted to put a pause on coming here.”

Alabama is the fifth state this year to enact some form of abortion ban. Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio, and Mississippi also enacted abortion bans, and the ACLU has already filed suit against the Ohio and Kentucky bans, and says it is in the process of putting together a legal challenge to Georgia’s.