The Human Life Protection Act, also known as House Bill 314 (HB 314) and the Alabama abortion ban, is an

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

statute enacted on May 15, 2019, that imposes a near-total ban on

abortion Abortion is the early termination of a pregnancy by removal or expulsion of an embryo or fetus. Abortions that occur without intervention are known as miscarriages or "spontaneous abortions", and occur in roughly 30–40% of all pregnan ...

in the state. Originally set to go into effect in November 2019, a legal challenge against the bill delayed implementation until 2022. The bill was passed in both chambers of the

Alabama Legislature The Alabama Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of Alabama. It is a bicameral body composed of the House of Representatives and Senate. It is one of the few state legislatures in which members of both cham ...

in a party-line vote and signed by Republican governor

Kay Ivey Kay Ellen Ivey ( ; born October 15, 1944) is an American politician who is the 54th governor of Alabama, serving since 2017. A Republican since 2002, Ivey was the 38th Alabama state treasurer from 2003 to 2011 and the 30th lieutenant governor o ...

. Under the Human Life Protection Act, a doctor who performs a banned abortion in the state of Alabama is guilty of a Class A

felony A felony is traditionally considered a crime of high seriousness, whereas a misdemeanor is regarded as less serious. The term "felony" originated from English common law (from the French medieval word "''félonie''") to describe an offense that r ...

, and could be sentenced to

life imprisonment Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...

. Several proposed amendments that would have allowed abortions in cases of rape and incest were rejected. From its introduction to its signing, the Human Life Protection Act has been strongly opposed by Democratic politicians and activists; it has also been criticized by a number of Republican politicians. Legal challenges to the act were quickly brought by abortion rights advocates; a

preliminary injunction An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a special court order compelling a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. It was developed by the English courts of equity but its origins go back to Roman law and the equitable reme ...

against the law was issued by U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama judge Myron Herbert Thompson in October 2019. On June 24, 2022, after the

U.S. Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that turn on question ...

overturned ''Roe v. Wade'' in ''

Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization ''Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization'', 597 U.S. 215 (2022), is a List of landmark court decisions in the United States, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, United States Supreme Court in which the court held ...

'', Judge Thompson lifted the injunction, allowing the law to go into effect.

Legislative history

The bill was introduced in the

Alabama House of Representatives The Alabama House of Representatives is the lower house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature (United States), state legislature of state of Alabama. The House is composed of 105 members representing an equal number of districts, with ...

on April 2, 2019, by Terri Collins, a Republican representing Decatur. In the

Alabama Senate The Alabama State Senate is the upper house of the Alabama Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Alabama. The body is composed of 35 members representing an equal number of districts across the state, with each district con ...

, Republican Clyde Chambliss sponsored Collins' legislation. Eric Johnson, the president of the Alabama Pro-Life Coalition, wrote the Human Life Protection Act.

Provisions

The Human Life Protection Act bans abortions at any stage of a pregnancy. The law provides for exceptions in cases where a fetus has a lethal anomaly (a medical condition that would cause the fetus to be

stillborn Stillbirth is typically defined as fetal death at or after 20 or 28 weeks of pregnancy, depending on the source. It results in a baby born without signs of life. A stillbirth can often result in the feeling of guilt or grief in the mother. T ...

or to die shortly following birth), or in cases where a pregnancy would "present serious health risk" to the woman. The law does not ban procedures to end

ectopic pregnancies Ectopic pregnancy is a Complications of pregnancy, complication of pregnancy in which the embryo attaches outside the uterus. Signs and symptoms classically include abdominal pain and vaginal bleeding, but fewer than 50 percent of affected women ...

. It does not include an exception in cases of rape or incest. The Human Life Protection Act classifies the performance of an illegal abortion as a Class A felony equivalent to rape and murder. Doctors found guilty under its provisions could receive sentences ranging from 10 years imprisonment to 99 years or

. An attempt at performing an illegal abortion is classified by the bill as a Class C felony. The bill also states that women receiving abortions would not be held criminally or civilly liable. A provision in the bill compared abortion to historical genocide events, reading: "More than 50 million babies have been aborted in the United States since the ''Roe'' decision in 1973, more than three times the number who were killed in German death camps, Chinese purges,

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

s, Cambodian killing fields, and the

Rwandan genocide The Rwandan genocide, also known as the genocide against the Tutsi, occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwandan Civil War. Over a span of around 100 days, members of the Tutsi ethnic group, as well as some moderate Hutu and Gre ...

combined".

Debate

Anthony Daniels Anthony Daniels ( ; born 21 February 1946) is an English actor and mime artist, best known for playing in 11 ''Star Wars'' films. He is the only actor to have either appeared in or been involved with all theatrical films in the series, and h ...

, the Democratic minority leader of the House of Representatives, proposed an amendment to the bill that would allow abortions in cases of rape and incest, but it was rejected by a vote of 72–26. Collins opposed the amendment, and stated: "My goal with this bill is to let the Supreme Court possibly revisit he ''Roe v. Wade''">Roe_v._Wade.html" ;"title="he ''Roe v. Wade">he ''Roe v. Wade''decision on just the issue that they made that decision, which was, is that baby in the womb a Personhood">person A person (: people or persons, depending on context) is a being who has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations suc ...

Legislative history

Provisions

Debate

Vote and enactment

House of Representatives

Senate

Legal challenge

Reaction

References