An Alabama House member says he’s on a mission to protect the unborn in the state.
Jamie Kiel is hoping his Alabama Heartbeat Act will pass this legislative session. If it’s approved it would outlaw abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected. That’s around six weeks of pregnancy. It does not allow abortion for rape, incest or abuse. It’s the strictest abortion measure Alabama has seen.
The legislation would follow the lead of a Texas law that’s currently in place. Both measures in Texas and Alabama have the heartbeat stipulation. And the bill proposed in Alabama would follow the lead of Texas in allowing for civil lawsuits against anyone who facilitates an abortion.
Kiel said the legislation in needed in Alabama.
“My point of view is that abortion for any reason is murder, and a life is precious and should be protected no matter how it was conceived,” he said.
The Texas law has been challenged. But the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled the Longhorn State’s law could remain on in place while litigation in a lower court continues.
The ACLU of Alabama is gearing up to fight the controversial abortion law.
"If the Alabama Legislature chooses to pass this bill, we will see them in court," said ACLU Reproductive Rights Staff Attorney Kaitlin Welborn.
Welborn warned the bill would harm Black and Latino people and anyone who's trying to make ends meet.
"The Legislature should really understand that black women will face the disproportionate burden from this law," said Welborn. "They will suffer from it just like they've been suffering from the severe maternal mortality crisis in Alabama-- where black women are more than twice as likely as white women to die during pregnancy or shortly after childbirth."
Alabama House member Jamie Kiel’s Heartbeat Act does not make exceptions for abortions sought after incest, rape or abuse. But it does allow an abortion if a woman’s health is in danger due to a pregnancy.
ACLU Reproductive Rights Staff Attorney Kaitlin Welborn said Kiel's proposed law in inhumane.
“These are people in the most vulnerable of situations who have unwanted pregnancies that will be forced to carry to term. I think it's absolutely cruel to do that," she said. "It’s unfortunate that the Alabama Legislature wants to play politics about this, rather than actually considering the harm that is going to cause.”
Kiel has 23 Republican lawmakers as co-sponsors on the Alabama Heartbeat Act. He says the thinks the bill will pass this legislative session.
