Alabama House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels today released a letter to Governor Kay Ivey requesting a special legislative session to allow lawmakers to change the state’s near-total abortion ban.
Gina Maiola, Ivey’s communications director, said the governor has no plans to do that.
“There will be no special session on the Alabama Protection of Human Life Act of 2019,” Maiola said. “Governor Ivey has made her position clear on this issue, and it is that she wants to see this 2019 law passed.”
Rep. Daniels, D-Huntsville, said the Supreme Court’s June decision to overturn Roe v. Wade, which allowed Alabama’s 2019 abortion ban to go into effect, had colleagues and constituents reaching out to him , calling for legislative action.
Alabama law makes it a felony, punishable by 10 to 99 years in prison, for a doctor to perform an abortion at any stage of pregnancy. The only exception is to protect a pregnant woman from a serious health risk.
Daniels said the strictness of Alabama’s law raises concerns that doctors will be reluctant to perform abortions that are medically necessary to save lives. He noted that Alabama already has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the country.
Daniels also noted that Alabama’s abortion ban applies to pregnancies resulting from incest and rape.
“In addition to putting the lives of pregnant women at risk, this law also causes double victimization of rape and incest survivors,” Daniels wrote. “By making no exceptions for these two things, our law will further traumatize children and other victims of sexual abuse by forcing them to bear the child of their abuser.”
The next regular session of the Legislature begins in March.
Republican majorities in Alabama’s House and Senate passed the bill against opposition from Democrats who tried unsuccessfully to amend the bill. Ivey signed the bill.
Add Comment