AL Passes Most Restrictive Abortion Ban In Country, Threatens Providers With Life In Jail

A protester dressed as a character from the novel-turned-TV series "The Handmaid's Tale" walks into the Senate Hart building during a rally against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington,... A protester dressed as a character from the novel-turned-TV series "The Handmaid's Tale" walks into the Senate Hart building during a rally against Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC on October 4, 2018. - Top Republicans voiced confidence Thursday that Brett Kavanaugh will be confirmed to the US Supreme Court this weekend, as they asserted that an FBI probe had found nothing to support sex assault allegations against Donald Trump's nominee."Judge Kavanaugh should be confirmed on Saturday," Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, told reporters. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Alabama passed the most restrictive abortion ban in the country Tuesday night, sending to the governor’s desk legislation that makes performing an abortion a felony and that provides no exemptions for rape or incest.

According to the Associated Press, Gov. Kay Ivey (R) has long been anti-abortion, though she has not yet said if she’ll sign the bill. If she vetoes, the statehouse likely has enough votes to overturn it.

Should it become law, the abortion ban would punish doctors who perform the procedure with up to 99 years or life in prison.

Democrats, massively outnumbered in the Alabama statehouse, railed against the legislation and tried for a Hail Mary amendment to add in exemptions for rape or incest victims. Republicans shot it down.

Protesters, many dressed like characters from “The Handmaid’s Tale,” swarmed the chambers.

Though a lawsuit is inevitable, Alabaman conservatives are joining the nationwide movement to lob a state’s abortion ban into the Supreme Court, where pro-life activists believe that a favorable justice makeup has set the stage for overturning or defanging Roe v. Wade. 

Read TPM’s deep dive of the heartbeat abortion bans, the linchpin of the movement, here.

Latest News
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: