Alabama seems to have decided to terminate all the abortions illegal.
If the new law passed by the Alabama State Senate is any indication, no one will be able to take up abortions of pregnancy except when medical conditions demand it.
The law was passed at the recent meeting at the Alabama State Senate by a 25 to 6 vote. In fact, the new law proposes no respite or exception for the incest or rape.
The bill has now been sent to the governor Kay Ivey. If the bill gets signed by her, it will become a law and will implement a nearly complete ban on the abortions.
However, the bill has given rise to a huge uproar in the State of Alabama. The bill considers the abortions as a Class A felony.
This will mean it will be a serious crime and is punishable if proven to a life term that can last up to 99 years in prison.
It should be noted that Alabama is the sixth state in the US to pass this law and the fourth in 2019 so far.
The bill has been labeled Human Life Protection Act and proposes to ban all the abortions except when “abortion is necessary in order to prevent a serious health risk” ( the exact text as on the bill).
In fact, activists have been forcing for such legislation and want the Supreme Court to overturn the Roe v. Wade which was the landmark decision.
This law considers abortion to be a ‘woman’s right’.
If the bill receives the governor’s approval, it will become a law within a span of six months.
However, there has been outrage over the exceptions not given even to the rape and incest victims.
It is being argued that these victims “did not ask for what they got”, to borrow the words of Bobby Singleton who is the Senate Minority leader who proposed the amendment to exempt the victim but failed to make it to the bill.
It is yet to be seen how will the bill fare if approved by the Governor.