Planned Parenthood, ACLU Sue Over Extreme Abortion Ban In Alabama

A Planned Parenthood supporter and opponent try to block each other's signs during a protest and counter-protest Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017 in St. Louis. Rallies aimed at urging Congress and President Donald Trump to ... A Planned Parenthood supporter and opponent try to block each other's signs during a protest and counter-protest Saturday, Feb. 11, 2017 in St. Louis. Rallies aimed at urging Congress and President Donald Trump to end federal funding for Planned Parenthood are scheduled across the country. (AP Photo/Jim Salter) MORE LESS
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As they vowed, Planned Parenthood and the ACLU have filed suit against Alabama’s extreme abortion ban law, the Montgomery Democrat & Chronicle first reported.

“By criminalizing the performance of abortion (or attempted performance of abortion) at all points in pregnancy, H.B. 314 directly conflicts with Roe and more than four decades of Supreme Court precedent affirming its central holding,” the suit reads.

The extreme measure, which was signed into law last week, makes performing an abortion a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison and includes no exceptions for rape or incest.

If the law gets shot down in the lower courts, as has happened with many abortion bans nationwide, it would go to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals. Based on a recent opinion by the conservative court when it shot down a law that would allow for prosecution of doctors who perform a common second-trimester abortion procedure, activists probably wouldn’t get a win there.

But, they could always appeal to the Supreme Court, which they hope would choose to take up the case, giving the conservative-slanting body a chance to overturn or defang Roe v. Wade. 

Read the lawsuit here:

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