Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled against Roe v. Wade, the federal government has no longer regulated abortion. Instead, the states are responsible for this. Alabama, along with 13 other states, went the opposite way. While California and New York were defending their citizens’ rights to abortions, including those after birth, Alabama went the other direction. In 2019, the state passed the Human Life Protection Act which prohibited nearly all abortions. However, it knew that the law’s full effect could not be felt until Dobbs V. Jackson’s Women’s Health was decided, the case in which Roe’s overturn was precipitated. Alabama is the only state to have banned abortions.
- Save the life of a pregnant woman
- Preventing serious risks to a pregnant woman’s health
- If it is unlikely that the fetus will survive the pregnancy
Many information websites affirm that Alabama women may travel out-of-state to get an abortion. They also offer resources and organizations that could facilitate this. Attorney General Steve Marshall has stated that any Alabama organization that helps a woman obtain an abortion outside of the state could be held criminally responsible. The lawsuits are about to begin: In July, West Alabama Women’s Center and Dr. Yashica Robinson filed a suit against the state, claiming that it violated their constitutional right to travel. You can tell that the death lobby has reached a crisis point by this. A separate lawsuit was filed by an advocacy group called Yellowhammer Fund.
AG Marshall fired back and filed a motion to dismiss on Monday, stating that he had the right to prosecute on the basis of laws covering criminal conspiracies. Not only the Left can be creative with their legal warfare.
Attorneys for Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall stated in a Monday court filing that providing transportation to women to obtain an abortion outside the state could be considered a “criminal conspiracy.”
The court filing is in response to two lawsuits filed against Marshall in July by women’s health clinics and the Yellowhammer Fund. The organization claims it offers “financial support and practical assistance for those who need assistance” and that Marshall violated the plaintiffs’ constitutional rights when he publicly stated that organizations that help pregnant women get abortions outside of Alabama could be investigated criminally.
The Yellowhammer Fund’s lawsuit claims that “Alabama cannot regulate abortions outside of the state any more than another state could deem their laws legalizing abortions applicable to Alabama.”
Marshall has now asked Judge Myron Thomson to dismiss the case, claiming that facilitating an abortion in another state is a conspiracy.
The law seems to be a bit tougher than it appears from a quick glance at the motion. Former U.N. official, Nikki Haley, was enraged by this hard-line stance. Nikki Haley, presidential candidate and ambassador to the United Nations, was in a rage at last week’s GOP debate. Haley called for an honest discussion with the American public about abortion, what can be done, and that criminalizing or demonizing women was not the solution.
WATCH:
it’s notable that Nikki Haley things a “moderate” message on abortion is that women shouldn’t be executed for getting one pic.twitter.com/iy1AiYisk4
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) August 27, 2023
Marshall appears confident in his legal position that the state has its rights. California Governor Gavin Newsom, who was taking a break to promote gun control, found a red state issue that he could pose. And he did.
California will NOT cooperate with any state that attempts to prosecute women or doctors for receiving or providing reproductive care. https://t.co/tZBYXie1Ss
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) August 31, 2023
The same governor signed AB2098, which penalizes and prosecutes California physicians if they spread false information to their patients. This applies even if the misinformation is in line with standard care. A federal court granted a temporary restraining order against the implementation.
A California federal court granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday against Assembly Bill 2098. The bill is called “Physicians & Surgeons: Unprofessional Conduct” and it’s a victory for doctors who do not like their speech being censored. The “medical disinformation” bill, signed by Governor Gavin Newsom into law in September, is one of the most dictatorial overreachs of the Golden State Legislature and the governor during the pandemic era.
If you are a doctor, and say something about COVID that the state does not like, then they can take away your license and your career. Newsom may have a copy of the U.S. Constitution in Washington, D.C., but it appears that he hasn’t read it, or its most important feature, the First Amendment.
Marshall probably has a larger set of nuts and better hair than the Governor Hair Gel. He responded on Thursday.
We aren’t asking for your permission, @GavinNewsom. Alabama will not permit abortionists to defy our laws and enrich themselves by marketing hopelessness to women. https://t.co/sxUmL8JFmd
— Attorney General Steve Marshall (@AGSteveMarshall) August 31, 2023
Marshall, unlike California’s gaslighting Governor, appears to mean exactly what he says. He also cites case law in support of his argument. He states in the Motion to Dismiss that he filed with the Court:
Plaintiffs finally argue that they have a so-called right to be free from extraterritorial application of State law, but the prohibited conduct in which they wish to engage would occur right here in Alabama. In the words of the Alabama conspiracy statute, Plaintiffs wish, while in this State, to “agree[] with one or more persons to engage in or cause the performance of the conduct” constituting an offense, followed by “one or more of the persons do[ing] an overt act to effect an objective of the agreement.” ALA. CODE § 13A-4-3(a). Prosecuting someone for forming a conspiracy in Alabama is not an extraterritorial application of Alabama law simply because the planned conduct is to occur beyond State lines. Plaintiffs assert that there is some difference because the object of their conspiracy is legal where it might occur. But they don’t explain why that makes any constitutional difference, and it doesn’t. The conspiracy is what is being punished, even if the final conduct never occurs. That conduct is Alabama-based and is within Alabama’s power to prohibit.
The motion will be heard by Judge Myron Thomson on Tuesday. Alabama won a recent victory in a U.S. Court of Appeals, allowing it to enforce a prohibition on gender-transitioning surgery with puberty blocks and transgender operations. Marshall is poised to continue its winning streak.