Alabama’s Republican governor has signed the nation’s strictest abortion ban into law, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases, punishable by up to life in prison, and with no exceptions for rape and incest.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama’s Republican governor has signed the nation’s strictest abortion ban into law, making performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases, punishable by up to life in prison, and with no exceptions for rape and incest.
Gov. Kay Ivey said the law she signed Wednesday is a testament to the belief that « every life is a sacred gift from God. »
Democrats and abortion rights advocates call it a slap in the face to women.
The law faces certain legal challenges on a journey to the U. S. Supreme Court, where Republicans hope President Donald Trump’s appointees will reverse Roe v. Wade and criminalize abortion nationwide.
Evangelist Pat Robertson is among those who think it’s a mistake, calling the Alabama law too « extreme » and not the best vehicle for overturning the precedent set by the Supreme Court in 1973. « I think this one will lose, » he said on his television show Wednesday, but « God bless them, they are trying to do something. »
Ivey acknowledged in her signing statement that the law was crafted specifically to give the Supreme Court’s conservative majority a chance to gut abortion rights nationwide. The abortion ban would go into effect in six months if it isn’t blocked by legal challenges.
« It just completely disregards women and the value of women and their voice. We have once again silenced women on a very personal issue, » said Sen.
