A Montgomery federal judge lifted an injunction against Alabama’s 2019 Human Life Protection Act, officially making abortions a felony in the state. Judge Myron Thompson order states that the legal argument against Alabama’s ban no longer exists following action by the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down the Roe Versus Wade decision that gave constitutional protections to women seeking end their pregnancies. Robin Marty is director of operations at the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa. She says she was taken by surprise by the SCOTUS action against Roe.
“I was at home, not thinking that I had to be at the clinic,” Marty said. “We had to go into the immediate actions that we have, knowing that the State of Alabama has a pre-Roe ban that they can now enforce on us.”
Marty says the high court has other rulings to announce, so she expected the Roe decision to come later. The world had been tipped off as to how the conservative majority was leaning when a draft opinion was leaked to the press. Still, Marty says the Friday announcement was jarring.
“I was not expecting it all, I assumed that because normally the Supreme Court will hold their absolute biggest cases until the very end, and we know, there are eight more cases to come down, it was very unusual.”
Alabama Congressman Gary Palmer praised the Supreme Court’s action to strike down a woman’s right to choose, calling the decision a way to “protect countless unborn Americans.” The Alabama Human Life Protection Act bans all abortions, except for those where the life of the mother is in danger. The measure has no protections for women who are victims of rape or incest.