Recently, Alabama’s governor signed into law the country’s most restrictive anti-abortion bill, which could put doctors who perform abortions with life in prison. The Republican governor, Kay Ivey signed the bill following approval by the Alabama Senate. Physicians who perform abortions could face up to 99 years in prison. Even attempting an abortion will be seen as a Class C Felony, putting the physician at risk of a 10-year prison sentence.
Then another state chimed in with a new abortion law. Missouri Senate passed a bill that will prohibit abortions after eight weeks. The bill is being called the “Missouri Stands for the Unborn Act,” which bans abortions after the detection of a heartbeat. However, they aren’t as strict as Alabama is with this new law. The law will allow for the procedure to be done if the mother caring could be in harm.
Currently, the law has not taken effect yet in Alabama. So, as of right now, abortions are still very much legal, medical procedures. However, this Act will be brought to court by Planned Parenthood and ACLU.
“The ACLU of Alabama, along with the National ACLU and PPFA, will file a lawsuit to stop this unconstitutional ban and protect every woman’s right to make her own choice about her healthcare, her body, and her future.”
“PLEASE REMEMBER: This bill will not take effect anytime in the near future, and abortion will remain a safe, legal, medical procedure at all clinics in Alabama.” The ACLU took to Twitter to state these, and it seems like this Act could have some powerful foes to get through before it even falls into place.
Another state that also dipped its feet into the new strict abortion laws is Georgia. Governor Brian Kelly signed a law on May 7th that would ban abortions as soon as a heartbeat was detected. The law does allow for women to abort against incest or rape, but the victim would have to report it to the police, and the abortion can’t be done after 20 weeks.
With these states being so close to Florida, it could affect patients coming here to try and get abortions. However, with these acts going to trail in most cases with Planned Parenthood, we could see this as a huge mishap and waste of time.
