Dozens of Mobile-area residents converged on Bienville Square over the weekend, staging competing demonstrations after the Alabama Legislature passed a sweeping abortion ban that supporters and opponents alike say is designed to reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
The gathering drew activists from both sides of the debate, who held signs and listened to speakers before marching through downtown streets. The event was organized by members of the Mobile County Green Party as an outlet for residents opposed to the new law, while pro-life advocates showed up with their own signs in a counterprotest.
The law, passed by the Alabama Senate and signed by Gov. Kay Ivey earlier this month, makes performing an abortion a felony for physicians at virtually any stage of pregnancy, with no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. It is among the most restrictive abortion measures adopted by any state in the country and is widely seen as a direct challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion.
Katherine Brown, who helped organize Saturday’s demonstration, said the rally gave pro-choice Mobile residents a chance to speak out against legislation they view as an overreach into personal medical decisions.
“We’re here to push back against this anti-human law,” Brown said. “We feel this law will restrict human rights.”
Brown argued the legislation was crafted specifically to challenge Roe v. Wade and said she does not believe the state senators who voted for the bill, all of whom are men, should have a say over women’s reproductive health decisions.
Not far away, pro-life activists countered with their own message of support for the new law.
“I’m encouraged about what has happened,” said Jean Sullivan, one of the pro-life demonstrators. “I’m glad the state is willing to stand up for life.”
Paulette Catherine Bolan, a nurse and pro-life activist from Baldwin County, called the law “a wonderful step” and said she supports removing the rape and incest exemptions altogether. Bolan encouraged women facing unplanned pregnancies to consider adoption, calling it “a viable option.”
Not all of the discussion at Bienville Square broke down neatly along political lines. Dr. Margaret Boozer, a Mobile-area gynecologist and former abortion provider, raised concerns that the law’s broad language could complicate routine reproductive health care that isn’t widely understood as abortion.
Boozer said the law includes an exception tied to the health of the mother, but she worries that exception leaves room for interpretation in situations such as an incomplete miscarriage, where doctors may need to terminate a nonviable pregnancy to protect a patient’s health.
“I hope that’s not the case, but you’re entering into a gray zone,” Boozer said, adding that uncertainty over what qualifies as a medical necessity could leave physicians hesitant to act quickly in emergency situations.
Boozer said she expects the law to face legal challenges and hopes it will ultimately be struck down. She also pointed to so-called heartbeat bills advancing in neighboring states, which ban abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, often as early as six weeks into a pregnancy.
“Six weeks is extremely early,” Boozer said. “Many women have no idea they’re pregnant at that point.”
The debate comes at a time when Mobile’s only Planned Parenthood clinic is temporarily closed for renovations. Patients seeking services in the meantime are being referred to clinics in New Orleans; Pensacola, Florida; Tuscaloosa; Huntsville; and Montgomery, depending on their location and medical needs, according to Planned Parenthood Southeast.
Alabama’s law is expected to face swift legal challenges from reproductive rights organizations in the coming months before it can take effect. For now, both sides say they expect the kind of dueling demonstrations seen in Bienville Square to continue as the law winds its way through the courts.