The US state of Alabama has passed an almost total ban on abortion.
Approved by 25 votes to six, any exemptions for extreme cases of rape or incest were rejected on the senate floor.
The decision to sign the bill into law now resides with Republican Governor Kay Ivey. It is unclear yet whether she will sign it, but she is a vocal opponent of abortion.
If passed into law it will be the strictest action taken against abortion rights to date in the US.
Activists hope that passing the bill will lead to further changes. Many think it could lead to the eventual challenge of the 1973 supreme court decision that legalised abortion across the US.
What does the bill do?
It goes further than recent bills passed in the US that ban abortion after the detection of a heart beat at 6 weeks.
The new guidelines would classify abortion as a class A felony. Doctors would face 10 years in prison for attempting the procedure and 99 years for actually carrying it out.
The bill wouldn’t hold women concerned criminally responsible however. It would also allow abortion in cases where the mother’s life was at serious risk.
Why now?
The bill’s architects expect it will be defeated in the lower courts, but hope it will end up before the Supreme Court.
Emboldened by the addition of two Trump-nominated conservative justices, anti-abortion activists are eager to take one of the most divisive issues in America back to the highest court in the land.
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HeadlineAlabama passes bill banning abortion
Short HeadlineAlabama bans Abortion
StandfirstThe new law prohibits terminations at any stage of pregnancy, except if a woman's health is at serious risk.
The US state of Alabama has passed an almost total ban on abortion.
Approved by 25 votes to six, any exemptions for extreme cases of rape or incest were rejected on the senate floor.
The decision to sign the bill into law now resides with Republican Governor Kay Ivey. It is unclear yet whether she will sign it, but she is a vocal opponent of abortion.
If passed into law it will be the strictest action taken against abortion rights to date in the US.
Activists hope that passing the bill will lead to further changes. Many think it could lead to the eventual challenge of the 1973 supreme court decision that legalised abortion across the US.
What does the bill do?
It goes further than recent bills passed in the US that ban abortion after the detection of a heart beat at 6 weeks.
The new guidelines would classify abortion as a class A felony. Doctors would face 10 years in prison for attempting the procedure and 99 years for actually carrying it out.
The bill wouldn’t hold women concerned criminally responsible however. It would also allow abortion in cases where the mother’s life was at serious risk.
Why now?
The bill’s architects expect it will be defeated in the lower courts, but hope it will end up before the Supreme Court.
Emboldened by the addition of two Trump-nominated conservative justices, anti-abortion activists are eager to take one of the most divisive issues in America back to the highest court in the land.
