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U.S. NEWS Monday 20 May 2019
Hundreds protest Alabama's abortion

ban at state capitol

By KIM CHANDLER ing raped at a party at age
Associated Press 18.
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) Carrying an orange sign
— Hundreds of demonstra- with a coat hanger and the
tors marched to the Ala- caption "No Never Again,"
bama Capitol on Sunday 69-year-old Deborah Hall
to protest the state's newly of Montgomery said she
approved abortion ban, remembers life before Roe
chanting "my body, my and can't believe the push
choice!" and "vote them to return there.
out!" "I had friends who had il-
The demonstration came legal abortions and barely
days after Gov. Kay Ivey survived," said Hall, who
signed the most stringent for a time ran a clinic in
abortion law in the nation— Montgomery that provided
making performing an abortion, birth control and
abortion a felony in nearly other services.
all cases unless necessary "I still cannot believe it. It's
for the mother's health. The really a scary time for ev-
law provides no exception erybody," she said of the
for rape and incest. push to overturn Roe.
"Banning abortion does Amanda Reyes, who runs
not stop abortion. It stops Yellowhammer Fund, a
safe abortion," said Staci nonprofit that provides
Fox, CEO and president funding to help low-income
of Planned Parenthood women obtain abortions,
Southeast, addressing the said donations have begun
cheering crowd outside streaming in since passage
the Alabama Capitol. of the Alabama bill.
Alabama is part of a wave Groups this week paid for a
of conservative states small plane carrying a ban- Kelly Thompson stands in front of the Alabama Capitol to protest
seeking to mount new le- ner "Abortion is Okay!" to a law passed last week making abortion a felony in nearly all
gal challenges to Roe v. circle the Capitol and the cases with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest, Sunday,
Wade, the 1973 landmark Governor's Mansion. May 19, 2019, in Montgomery, Ala.
Supreme Court decision The Alabama law would Associated Press
that legalized abortion na- make it a felony, punish-
tionwide. Governors in Ken- able by up to 99 years or President Donald Trump, - the same position taken
tucky, Mississippi, Ohio and life in prison to perform while not mentioning Ala- by Ronald Reagan," Trump
Georgia have approved an abortion. There would bama's law, wrote in a wrote in a series of tweets.
bans on abortion once a be no punishment for the weekend tweet that he is Rep. Terri Collins, the spon-
fetal heartbeat is detect- woman receiving the abor- strongly "pro-life" but favors sor of the Alabama law,
ed, which can happen as tion. exceptions. said the purpose is to chal-
early as the sixth week of But the protest outside the "As most people know, and lenge Roe and added
pregnancy. Capitol Sunday comes in for those who would like to that Alabama lawmak-
None of the laws has ac- a state where a majority of know, I am strongly Pro-Life, ers can come back and
tually taken effect, and voters recently agreed to with the three exceptions add exemptions if states
all are expected to be put anti-abortion language - Rape, Incest and protect- regain control of abortion
blocked by the courts as in the Alabama Constitu- ing the Life of the mother access.q
the legal challenges play tion. Fifty-nine % of state
out with an ultimate eye on voters in November ap-
the Supreme Court. proved the constitutional
Marchers on Sunday said amendment saying the
the measures have ener- state recognizes the rights
gized supporters of legal- of the "unborn."
ized abortion, and they "To the bill's many support-
say they are digging in for ers, this legislation stands
a legal and political fight. as a powerful testament to
Along the route they took, Alabamians' deeply held
the protesters passed by belief that every life is pre-
scattered counterdemon- cious and that every life is a
strators raising signs against sacred gift from God," Ivey
abortion. said in a statement after
Two speakers at the ral- signing the ban into law.
ly on the Capitol steps The Alabama law has also
shared their stories of hav- come under criticism by
ing an abortion, including some conservatives who
a woman who came out of have expressed discomfort
the crowd to describe the by the lack of exceptions
abortion she had after be- for rape and incest.