A federal judge has granted Attorney General Steve Marshall’s emergency motion to dissolve the injunction blocking Alabama’s near-total abortion ban, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade.
Judge Myron H. Thompson of the Middle District of Alabama dissolved the injunction during a conference call Friday afternoon, moving to reinstate the 2019 Human Life Protection Act almost immediately after the Supreme Court’s ruling.
The Supreme Court’s Ruling
Friday morning, the high court decided Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the case challenging a Mississippi law that bans most abortions after 15 weeks of pregnancy. In a 6-3 decision, the court overturned both Roe v. Wade, the 1973 ruling that established a nationwide right to abortion, and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, the 1992 decision that affirmed abortion rights while allowing some state restrictions.
Writing for the majority, Justice Samuel Alito held that the Constitution does not bar states from regulating or prohibiting abortion, returning authority over the issue to the states and their elected representatives.
Alabama’s Ban Becomes Enforceable
The Alabama Legislature passed the Human Life Protection Act in 2019. The law makes performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony carrying a sentence of 10 to 99 years, or life in prison, for providers, with no exceptions for rape or incest. Its only exception is when the mother’s health faces serious risk.
Providers including Planned Parenthood and women’s health centers across the state sued, arguing the ban violated patients’ privacy rights under the precedents the Supreme Court has now overturned. Thompson blocked the law while that challenge moved through the courts.
In a statement after Friday’s ruling, Marshall said there was no basis to keep the stay in place following the Dobbs decision, declaring the ban enforceable and warning that violations would be prosecuted, with penalties for providers ranging from 10 to 99 years.