Tuscaloosa Lawmakers, Candidates Discuss Lack Of Abortion Access For Rape, Incest Victims

TUSCALOOSA, AL — At best, it was a possibility many political insiders and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle viewed as a long shot.

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Like several other states, with Mississippi prevailing, Alabama Republicans passed an abortion law in 2019 few ever thought would be put into action. Aimed at finding its way to the Supreme Court to challenge federal precedent regarding access to abortion, the state's abortion ban was blocked by a federal injunction immediately following its passage in the legislature.

Then, in a long-expected ruling following a leaked draft of the opinion, the conservative-leaning U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last Friday after taking up the Mississippi law. In Alabama, the decision caused performing elective abortions to immediately become illegal — a Class A felony — other than in instances where the mother's life is in danger or the mother is clinically diagnosed as suicidal.

Still, two exceptions explicitly left out of Alabama's law have raised even more concerns among many — provisions to allow abortion access for victims of rape and incest.

As Patch previously reported, the bill's co-author — State Rep. Rich Wingo, a Tuscaloosa Republican — doubled down on the language of the bill as it is written.

He also mirrored the attitude of the bill's sponsor, Decatur Republican Rep. Terri Collins, who said earlier this week that the state's law was unlikely to see any debate concerning revisions during the upcoming 2023 Legislative Session.

"My belief is that, bottom line, by the word of God, it says that he knew us when we were being woven in our mother's womb," Wingo said on Friday when asked about the possibility of exceptions in the newly-implemented law. "I believe, just as our bill states, that life begins at conception."

As the debate continues amidst the downhill run to the November midterm elections and beyond, Tuscaloosa Patch caught up with policymakers, candidates and local officials to understand just what's at stake and what's ahead.

'This wasn't even necessary'

State Rep. Chris England, a Democrat from Tuscaloosa who also serves as Alabama's party chair, has seen a wide range of issues debated over nearly two decades in the state legislature.

But when asked about his reaction to news that Roe v. Wade had been overturned and Alabama's 2019 abortion ban would immediately go into effect, he was stunned. Given the numerous precedents he has studied and seen passed into law during his legal and political career, the seemingly regressive approach to abortion access in his home state was something he never thought he would see.

"The legislative process is designed to govern, which means that the process has to be deliberate, it has to be thoughtful, it has to be difficult. But it's only designed for the purpose of creating laws to better govern our constituency," England said in an interview with Patch on Wednesday. "The process is not designed to be commandeered to overturn Supreme Court decisions ... this wasn't even necessary."

England not only lamented the all-or-nothing wording of the new state law, but also spoke to a lack of interest expressed by his Republican colleagues when it comes to even slight amendments of the law currently on the books.

"When it became clear passing this law was going to be inevitable, there was an effort to try to govern," England explained. "Some were saying if we're going to do this to at least provide exceptions for extreme circumstances so we don't force an 11-year-old or 12-year-old girl where she was raped by her uncle and put her in a situation where she is forced to have that child.

"We were told [Alabama] needed the worst law we could have so we could possibly get Roe v. Wade overturned and we can just come back and fix it later," England added. "And now it's later and doesn't appear we can go back and fix it."

England also insisted that while many focus on the Alabama Attorney General's role in enforcing the state's laws, it's easy to overlook the elected district attorneys and judges who will be tasked with interpreting the law at the community level.

An experienced attorney from a legendary Alabama legal family, England went on to ponder just how different district attorneys may define new offenses such as conspiracy to commit abortion or aiding and abetting abortion.

"You've got a bunch of politicians who are hardcore against abortion who are now tasked with fairly and impartially enforcing the law," England said. "It creates a scenario where the same process that was used to score political points and use our constituents as collateral will now turn into somebody being arrested to accomplish the same objective. This isn't like any other criminal offense, because in other places it's still legal."

District Attorney Hays Webb is in the unenviable position of having to navigate this new legal landscape in Tuscaloosa County, but said the overall approach by his office and its prosecutors will not change.

"Obviously, it changes things completely and we have no recent sort of goings-on by which we can gauge it or say let's do what [someone else has] done," Webb said. "At the end of the day, we will do what we do with everything else."

Webb then said his office will "go to where the facts and the law take us."

"That will be the long and the short of it," he said. "There will not be things done or not done for any reason other than where the facts and the law lead us. These are our values. It's not like my values are that I believe in abortion or don't believe in abortion ... I believe in the law."

The law as it is written, however, is where the problem lies for its detractors, especially when considering the blatant omission of exceptions for victims of rape and incest.

"There will be real life consequences," England argued. "In this particular situation, the collateral damage will be actual real people being hurt because politics was more important than governing."

To England's point, the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa reportedly had to cancel appointments for approximately 100 women immediately after the news broke of Roe v. Wade being overturned.

And indeed, the fight to change the law will be a difficult one, as the Republican super majority in the Alabama Legislature presents the primary hurdle.

Republicans like State Sen. Gerald Allen of Tuscaloosa have been vocal in their support for how the law is written and have declined to speak on the possibility for additional exceptions to Alabama's abortion law for extreme cases.

In line with Wingo's interpretation, Allen's view of the policy is one that mirrors most of his Republican colleagues.

"I applaud the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade and return the issue to the states, where it belongs," Allen said in a statement to Patch when asked about the possibility for rape and incest exceptions. "I’m pro-life. I believe that life begins at conception and that all life is precious. I will always vote to protect life and to protect the unborn."

Others, like Republican State Rep. Kyle South, appear to be leaving the door open for future conversations.

However, without South having to say it, the young policymaker comes from one of the most deeply-red conservative districts in all of Alabama, with many of his constituents standing in staunch support of the law as it is written.

A state representative from Fayette who openly supports the pro-life agenda and voted in favor of the 2019 law, South is the father of two young girls and told Patch his plan was to try and find a constructive way to contribute to discussions moving forward.

"I want to put myself in a position to be part of the conversation with an open mind," South told Patch in an interview when asked about incest and rape exceptions. "My starting point is, I've got two little girls and I would hate for them to have that reminder every single day if, heaven forbid, something happened to either of them. I'm as pro-life as anybody and I think one of the things we really have to focus on are things like making adoption easier and taking red tape away, and there isn't anything more pro-life that."

ON THE CAMPAIGN TRAIL

Damon Pruet is a Northport native who, before qualifying as the Libertarian candidate in the open race for Alabama House of Representatives District 61, had never run for public office.

However, he echoed many of the sentiments of detractors on both sides of the aisle when it comes to the rationale behind the lack of exceptions in the law.

"I have no intention of muddying the waters with conjecture," he said on Wednesday. "These exclusions were omitted because the Alabama Human Life Protection Act was never intended or expected to go into effect as the prevailing law regulating abortion in Alabama. It was a virtue-based piece of legislation written to rally a political base going into an election year with the goal to challenge Roe v. Wade before the court to make the 2020 election about abortion."

Indeed, as England flatly stated, the law is as it is written seemed to have caught many of its own supporters off guard by becoming the law of the land seemingly overnight.

The Republican nominee for House District 61, retired Northport Police officer Ron Bolton, opted against providing too much in the way of speculation regarding rape and incest exceptions in Alabama state law.

Yet, like his fellow Republican Kyle South, Bolton is a longtime pro-life supporter and said he wanted to keep both his mind and the conversation open.

"Not having been involved in drafting the earlier law, I can’t say why the rape/incest exception was left out," he told Patch. "I’m sure that there will be discussion on this point hearing what some of the sponsors of the original legislation are saying, but I’m not sure what the language to insure that this isn’t abused might look like, or whether it would conflict with the existing constitutional amendment."

Pruet, the father of a son in college and the uncle to four nieces, also empathized with those worried about what comes next for citizens in Alabama.

"God forbid, should one of them be raped during this current political climate, our family would have no recourse but to pray that one trauma would not be compounded with the additional trauma of a resulting pregnancy," he said. "That is the reality in Alabama right now. It is currently unclear whether emergency contraceptives fall under the law given its vague language, though the State Attorney General's spokesman indicates that they do not. That uncorroborated statement could easily lead to a doctor facing potential Class A felony charges."

Lake View resident Lisa Ward is another political hopeful who has been outspoken concerning the state's new law since the overturning of Roe v. Wade and stuck by her position in a statement to Patch.

The Democratic nominee in the race for Senate District 21 against incumbent Republican Sen. Gerald Allen, Ward claims the abortion ban reveals the ugliest truth of all about the Roe v. Wade fight — "it's all about power."

"Gerald Allen and Alabama’s Republican politicians have become the money changers in the Temple, abusing the faith of the believers for the sole reason of increasing their power, and Alabama’s No Exception Abortion Ban is the coinage they are forcing on people of faith," Ward told Patch in a statement when asked about the lack of rape and incest exceptions.

Apart from her anger with the overall situation, Ward explained that the act of conceiving a child and carrying it to term is difficult and complex, which begs the need for proper safe alternatives for women as a basic necessity made possible by modern medical science.

"There is a reason there is an entire field of medical science devoted to nothing but safe, healthy pregnancies for mother and child," she said. "A blanket ban on all abortions, devoid of any nuance even when the mother’s life is at risk, in no way works to benefit Alabama families and all the complexities they face."

Despite the range of political differences in the debate at the local level, the prevailing sentiment appears to be one of heartburn for many who never thought Alabama's 2019 abortion ban would see the light of day in its current form.

While many are indeed celebrating the decision, the longterm implications have yet to be truly realized. But as the last few summer months of the midterm campaign season heat up, the issue will no doubt take center stage for many candidates and incumbents, alike, regardless of their positions on the new law.

A Christian by faith and an outspoken believer in small government, Pruet said, above all, that he could not support a law that requires those who do not share his faith to adapt to its beliefs in the way they live their everyday lives.

"A bad law is a bad law," Pruet said, "regardless of whether it was written with a pure intent."

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