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Alabama passes bill banning abortion Alabama passes bill banning abortion
(32 minutes later)
Alabama lawmakers have passed a bill to outlaw abortion in almost all cases, the strictest such US law. Alabama has become the latest US state to move to restrict abortions by passing a bill to outlaw the procedure in almost all cases.
Supporters say they expect the law to be blocked in court but hope that the appeals process will bring it before the Supreme Court.
They want the court, which now has a conservative majority, to overturn the 1973 ruling legalising abortion.
Sixteen other states are seeking to impose new restrictions on abortion.
Earlier this year the Supreme Court blocked implementation of new abortion restrictions in Louisiana. However the ruling was made by a narrow margin and the case is due to be reviewed later this year.
Why is this happening now?
The bill's architects expect that it will be defeated in the lower courts, but hope that it will therefore eventually come before the Supreme Court.
They have been emboldened by the addition of two Trump-nominated conservative justices, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh, who give the nine-member court a conservative majority.
Their aim, they say, is for the landmark 1973 Roe v Wade ruling to be undermined or overturned completely.
Alabama's Lieutenant Governor Will Ainsworth said: "Roe must be challenged, and I am proud that Alabama is leading the way."
Eric Johnston, who founded the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition that helped draft the bill, told NPR: "The dynamic has changed.
"The judges have changed, a lot of changes over that time, and so I think we're at the point where we need to take a bigger and a bolder step."
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What is in the Alabama bill?
The state Senate approved the law by 25 votes to six, rejecting exemptions for cases of rape or incest.The state Senate approved the law by 25 votes to six, rejecting exemptions for cases of rape or incest.
It will now go to Republican Governor Kay Ivey. She has not said whether she will sign it, but she is seen as a strong opponent of abortion. The bill would allow abortion in cases where the mother's life is at serious risk.
Restrictions on abortion rights have already been introduced this year in 16 US states. Doctors could face 10 years in prison for attempting to terminate a pregnancy and 99 years for actually carrying out the procedure.
Activists hope the new Alabama law will challenge a landmark 1973 Supreme Court ruling that legalised abortion in the US. A woman who has an abortion would not be held criminally liable.
The bill had been passed 74-3 earlier this month in Alabama's House of Representatives. The bill's text says more foetuses have been aborted than people killed in "Stalin's gulags, Cambodian killing fields".
Abortion would only be allowed in certain circumstances to safeguard the mother's health. The law - the strictest in the US - now goes to Republican Governor Kay Ivey for approval.
What restrictions are other states enacting?
Earlier this year the governors of four states - Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi and Ohio - signed bills banning abortion if an embryonic heartbeat can be detected.
Opponents say this amounts to a ban on abortion because cardiac activity in an embryo can be detected as early as the sixth week, before a woman may be aware that she is pregnant.
The first such ban was enacted in North Dakota in 2013, followed by Iowa in 2018. The Guttmacher Institute, which campaigns for reproductive rights, says none of these bans are yet in effect.
But their introduction is part of the same strategy to get the cases heard by the Supreme Court, it says.
Overall 28 states are currently considering legislation that would ban abortion in a variety of ways, the Guttmacher Institute says. They include:
What reaction has there been?
Alabama Democratic state Senator Bobby Singleton said the bill "criminalises doctors" and was an attempt by men "to tell women what to do with their bodies".
Another Democrat, Rodger Smitherman, said: "We're telling a 12-year-old girl who, through incest and rape is pregnant, we are telling her that she doesn't have a choice."
The National Organization for Women called the ban "unconstitutional" and said it was "a transparent effort to drum up political support for anti-abortion candidates in upcoming elections".The National Organization for Women called the ban "unconstitutional" and said it was "a transparent effort to drum up political support for anti-abortion candidates in upcoming elections".
Staci Fox of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates called the decision "a dark day for women in Alabama and across this country".Staci Fox of Planned Parenthood Southeast Advocates called the decision "a dark day for women in Alabama and across this country".
In a statement she said Alabama politicians would "forever live in infamy for this vote and we will make sure that every woman knows who to hold accountable".In a statement she said Alabama politicians would "forever live in infamy for this vote and we will make sure that every woman knows who to hold accountable".
What do Alabama's politicians say about the new law? What is access to abortion like in the US?
Republican lawmaker Terri Collins, sponsor of the legislation, said: "Our bill says that baby in the womb is a person." There are currently three abortion clinics in Alabama, down from more than 20 in the 1990s, according to pro-choice campaigners.
Democratic state Senator Bobby Singleton said the bill "criminalises doctors" and was an attempt by men "to tell women what to do with their bodies". Other states have seen similar falls in the number of abortion clinics and in 2017, six states reportedly had just one abortion clinic in operation.
Republican Senator Clyde Chambliss, a backer of the law, said it would enable the state "to go directly to the Supreme Court to challenge Roe versus Wade" (the 1973 ruling). However states with liberal majorities are seeking safeguards to the right to abortion in their own constitutions.
Before the debate began, Democrat Rodger Smitherman said: "We're telling a 12-year-old girl who, through incest and rape is pregnant, we are telling her that she doesn't have a choice." In Virginia, a Democratic-sponsored bill in Virginia that would have allowed third-trimester abortions up until the point of childbirth failed to make it out of committee.
What does the bill do? In 2018 some 58% of the US population thought abortion should be legal in all or most cases, while 37% said it should be illegal in all or most cases, a Pew Research Center survey suggests.
It goes further than legislation passed recently elsewhere in the US to ban abortion after a foetal heartbeat can be detected, usually around six weeks into a pregnancy.
Under the Alabama measure, provision of abortion at any stage in pregnancy would be a Class A felony.
Doctors could face 10 years in prison for attempting to terminate a pregnancy and 99 years for actually carrying out the procedure.
A woman who has an abortion would not be held criminally liable.
The bill would allow abortion in cases where the mother's life is at serious risk.
Its text says more foetuses have been aborted than people killed in "Stalin's gulags, Cambodian killing fields".
Why now?
Supporters of the legislation have welcomed an inevitable challenge in federal court if the measure becomes law. Pro-choice groups have pledged to take legal action against it.
The bill's architects expect it will be defeated in the lower courts, but hope it will end up before the Supreme Court.
Their aim ultimately is to overturn Roe v Wade.
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.
Eric Johnston, who founded the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition that helped draft the bill, told NPR: "The dynamic has changed.
"The judges have changed, a lot of changes over that time, and so I think we're at the point where we need to take a bigger and a bolder step."
What's the national picture?
If signed into law by Governor Ivey, the Alabama measure would become one of more than 300 laws challenging abortion access in the US.
The flurry of measures has led activists to warn that a swathe of US territory could become an "abortion desert."
At the other end of the political spectrum, a Democratic-sponsored bill in Virginia that would have allowed third-trimester abortions up until the point of childbirth failed to make it out of committee.
Are you in Alabama? How are you affected by the issues in this story? haveyoursay@bbc.co.ukAre you in Alabama? How are you affected by the issues in this story? haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk
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