A federal judge has blocked an Alabama abortion law that would have almost completely outlawed abortion.
U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, a Carter appointee, wrote in an opinion placing a preliminary injunction on the law that it “contravenes clear Supreme Court precedent.”
The law, signed in May by Republican Gov. Kay Ivey and due to go into effect in mid-November, would only allow abortions in cases in which the mother’s health was seriously at risk. It would also make performing abortions a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood had sued in May to stop the law, which would have been the strictest in the nation.
“Today’s decision recognizes this ban for what it is: a blatantly unconstitutional attack on the fundamental right to abortion,” said Alexa Kolbi-Molinas, a senior staff attorney for the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project. “The Alabama ban, and the others like it, are the culmination of a nationwide strategy to push abortion out of reach.”
The Alabama abortion law is one of 59 abortion restrictions to be enacted in 2019.
Ivey said from the beginning that she expected a legal battle over the law.
“No matter one’s personal view on abortion, we can all recognize that, at least for the short term, this bill may similarly be unenforceable,” Ivey said in May. “As citizens of this great country, we must always respect the authority of the U.S. Supreme Court even when we disagree with their decisions.”
