Planned Parenthood And ACLU File Lawsuit Against Alabama's Abortion Law

With Alabama signing its new abortion bill into law, it has adopted the most restrictive stance on abortion in the country. Under the law, abortion has been made a felony in nearly every instance, with the only exception being medical emergencies.

However, it has also been clear that the passage of such laws would be met with legal challenges, and that is exactly what’s happened.

It was announced on Friday that Planned Parenthood and the American Civil Liberties Union have filed a federal lawsuit against Alabama regarding the new abortion laws. The groups announced the joint lawsuit via Twitter and press releases.

“The Alabama legislature has been pushing abortion care further and further out of reach for years with medically unnecessary and politically-motivated restrictions, and this extreme abortion ban shows us just how far they’ll go to push their anti-abortion agenda,” ACLU attorney Alexa Kolbi-Molinas said in the group’s respective press release. She also called the law “blatantly unconstitutional” and it “directly conflicts” with Roe v. Wade.

On the other side, Alabama House Rep. Terri Collins has said that the bill and law were meant to address the language in Roe v. Wade and the question of whether a fetus should be considered a person. Collins, herself, was one of the primary sponsors of the original bill.

And Alabama isn’t the only state facing legal challenges over new abortion laws and bans. The ACLU has also revealed it has filed injunctions to block Kentucky’s “heartbeat ban”. Planned Parenthood has filed a similar lawsuit against Ohio’s ban.