Alabama House approves near-total ban on abortion

The Alabama Legislature on Tuesday approved a measure that would impose a near-total ban on abortion in the state. 

The vote was 74 to 3, with nearly all Democrats walking out of the chamber before the vote.  

The bill, sponsored by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, makes it a Class A felony — punishable by life or 10 to 99 years in prison — for a doctor to perform an abortion. Attempting to perform an abortion would be a Class C felony, punishable by one to 10 years in prison. The woman seeking an abortion would not face charges. 

In the Montgomery delegation, Rep. Reed Ingram, R-Pike Road, voted for ban. Democratic Montgomery Reps. Kirk Hatcher; Thad McClammy and Tashina Morris joined their party's walkout. 

If it passes the Senate and gets signed by Gov. Kay Ivey, the measure would be one of the most sweeping abortion restrictions in the nation. Collins said during the debate the measure is meant to challenge Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy.

"The heart of this bill is to confront a decision that was made by the courts in 1973 that said the baby in the womb is not a person," Collins said. "This bill addresses that one issue. Is that baby in the womb a person? I believe our law says it is. I believe our people say it is. And I believe technology shows it is."

The legislation does not provide exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Abortions could only be performed if the life of the mother was threatened, or if a mental illness meant giving birth would lead to the woman's death or that of her child. The bill would also provide an exception for a "lethal anomaly," where the child would die shortly after birth or be stillborn. 

The bill drew support from legislators like Rep. Rich Wingo, R-Tuscaloosa. 

"It’s time for the state of Alabama to lead for once," he said.  "Let’s lead and do the right thing."

The bill drew strong opposition from Democrats in the House, who raised several objections, including the lack of exceptions for victims of sexual assault. House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, offered an amendment to provide exceptions for rape and incest. Collins, saying the exceptions would dilute her planned challenge to Roe v. Wade, moved to table the amendment. The House voted 72 to 26 to table the proposal, which brought criticism from Daniels.

"What does that say to the women in the state and the mothers in the state and the grandmothers in the state?” Daniels said at a news conference shortly after the chamber rejected the amendment. 

In the Montgomery delegation, Republican Ingram voted to table Daniels' amendment. Democrats Hatcher, McClammy and Morris voted against it. 

Democrats repeatedly returned to the sexual assault issue during the debate. Rep. Rolanda Hollis, D-Birmingham, cited examples of young girls who were raped. 

"I do believe in women making a choice, when they did not have a choice in conceiving," she said. 

Staci Fox, the president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast, which operates clinics in Birmingham and Mobile, said in a statement that they would push against the bill.

“We expected this vote to happen and we are ready for a fight in the Senate," the statement said. "Today’s floor debate made it crystal clear what Alabama lawmakers think about women." 

Democrats raised other objections to the legislation, saying it would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and reduce women's health care choices.

"Nobody knows what a woman goes through," said Rep. Louise Alexander, D-Bessemer. "You don’t know why I may want to have an abortion. It could be because of my health. It could be many reasons."

Democrats also criticized majority Republicans for inadequate attention to education and social services.  

"I do support life," said Rep. Merika Coleman, D-Pleasant Grove. "But there are some people that just support birth. They don’t support life."

The House rejected an amendment from Coleman that would have required legislators to pay for litigation out of their own salaries. 

Rep. Kirk Hatcher, D-Montgomery, said his mother had to apologize to her church congregation when she became pregnant with him at 22. However, he said, she chose to have him and said "the community got behind her and the village brought me up."

"We can’t legislate morality," he said. "We can’t legislate hearts. What we can do is encourage people who make the choice, if it is the choice to bring life in the world, to cultivate that life."

Most Democrats walked out of the House chamber before the vote. 

"We really wanted them to have it all alone," said Rep. A.J. McCampbell, D-Livingston. "It's theirs now."

Collins said she was not necessarily opposed to the legislature revisiting issues raised in Tuesday's debate but that she wanted to keep her bill focused on a challenge to Roe. 

"All the things that were brought up today, I’m not saying aren’t valid and have meaning," she said. "I’m just saying for the purpose of this law, I wanted to keep it just what the issue was."

Whether a future legislature would have room to return to the issue in the wake of a Roe repeal is uncertain. Alabama voters last year approved a constitutional amendment declaring there was no right to an abortion in the state's 1901 Constitution, which could limit lawmakers' moves, even if they wished to act. If Collins' law were to be signed into law, it would be state law on abortion. 

Collins' bill, HB314, is one of many attempts at overturning Roe v. Wade that Republican-controlled state legislatures have pushed this year. Ohio, Mississippi and South Carolina have all passed bills that ban abortion at the detection of a fetal heartbeat. Collins pushed similar measures in previous years, but they did not come out of the Alabama Legislature. 

During the debate, a woman in the House gallery painted "Dumb" on the glass windows overlooking the chamber. A House spokesman said she flung paint on House security when they approached her. The woman, identified by House staff as Anne Susan DiPrizo, 48, of Vestavia Hills, was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.