Last Thursday marked the 24th day of the 2019 legislative session, and the last two weeks have been filled with no shortage of fights for the civil liberties of Alabamians. Following last week's final passage of HB314 in the Senate and the bill being signed into the law by Governor Ivey, thousands of Alabamians marched together around the state to protest this unconstitutional attack on abortion rights.
Then on Friday, we followed up by filing the lawsuit to stop this ban from going into effect.
This fight is only just getting started, but please note: abortion is still safe, legal, and accessible in Alabama, and it will remain so for the foreseeable future.
Updates
- Wednesday, the Alabama House passed yet another attack on abortion rights in our state. HB491 is being called a "born alive" bill to reinforce unsubstantiated claims from anti-choice proponents about the abortion procedure. This is yet another attempt by the legislature to criminalize physicians in Alabama and pass unnecessary legislation that harms our medical community. The bill now heads to the Senate.
- The Alabama House also voted on HB498, which condemns and even penalizes counter protestors exercising their free speech rights on college campuses. We testified in the House committee, but with it passing, the bill now heads to the Senate.
Action
- HB282, a bill that would allow judges to deny bail to people who haven't been convicted of a crime, was passed by the Alabama House last week. This is an extreme bill that will hurt Alabama families and communities, and holding more people in jail will worsen the overcrowding and further strain resources that are needed to keep our cities safe. The bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee, where we hope to slow it down. Help us stop this extreme bill that would worsen overcrowding and hurt Alabamians.
Stay alert as the session winds down. We are committed to following each of our legislative priorities through to the very end, and we will continue to call on our supporters to fight with us.