A new bill proposed in the Alabama House of Representatives would effectively make most abortions illegal in Alabama if signed into law.
Known as the Fetal Heartbeat Act and introduced by Rep. Terri Collins, R-Decatur, House Bill (HB) 405 would require physicians to check for a heartbeat before performing an abortion. If a heartbeat were detected, then it would become illegal to perform the abortion. To perform an abortion after a heartbeat has been detected, or to fail to check for a heartbeat, would be a Class C felony which is punishable by 1–10 years in jail and fines of up to $15,000.
Collins described the bill as a “common sense” law to protect life because fetal heartbeats can be detected as early as four to five weeks after conception, according to the American Pregnancy Association.
“With other laws dealing with this issue there’s a lot of debate over contraception and more complex issues,” she said.
“If you were to have a heart attack right now, paramedics and people who came in to try to revive you would be listening for your heartbeat,” Collins told WSFA 12 News, “and when they no longer found a heartbeat, you would no longer be considered alive anymore.”
Mia Raven, director of legislative affairs for Alabama Reproductive Rights Advocates (ARRA), spoke out against the bill April 14 as part of a rally outside the State House in Montgomery.
One of the primary issues she said ARRA has with the bill is that it goes against longstanding Supreme Court rulings such as Roe v. Wade and companion case Doe v. Bolton, which together established the right to an abortion through all nine months of pregnancy for any reason, citing 14th and 10th amendment protections.
Raven and ARRA claim that signing the bill into law would bring a legal battle, forcing the state to spend money they don’t have.
Other bills that resemble the proposed legislation in Alabama have recently been passed in Arkansas and North Dakota, only to be struck down in district court, as judges found the bills to go against Roe v. Wade.
Alabama would be the first state under the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to test the decision; both Arkansas and North Dakota are under the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals, which Collins said could give hope to the law not being struck down.
It would likely depend on if the federal judge accepted a heartbeat as an indicator of personhood, as the text of the Supreme Court’s decision on Roe v. Wade explains: “[Texas] argues that the fetus is a ‘person’ within the language and meaning of the 14th Amendment. … If this suggestion of personhood is established, the appellant’s case collapses, for the fetus’ right to life is then guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.”
Indicator of personhood
If a district judge ruled that a heartbeat should be used as an indicator of personhood, then the law could be fought all the way to the Supreme Court, possibly bringing the first challenge to Roe v. Wade, according to court documents.
Collins said, “My concern right now is to move the legislation through the House. I believe that education is always a good thing. So when you talk about life, to understand that baby in the womb that you can’t see really does have a heartbeat is great education to have circulating around the state.”
Eric Johnston, lawyer for Alabama Citizen’s Action Program, said HB 405 has “a very simple objective. Most of us agree that if someone has a beating heart, that person is alive.”
“Simply following the Roe v. Wade rationale of viability does not observe developing medical standards. … A reasonable interpretation of present medical science and the applicable medical standard of care can lead to no other conclusion but that a child with a beating heart should not be removed from his mother,” Johnston said.
At press time HB 405 was pending committee action in the House.
(TAB)
EDITOR’S NOTE — Troy University journalism student Jacob Holmes, of Prattville, wrote this story as part of a project partly funded by the Alabama Press Association Journalism Foundation.
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