Alabama
Ranking: 20
- Alabama bans most abortions at or after 20 weeks on the basis of pain experienced by unborn children.
- Alabama requires that a woman be given a 24-hour reflection period before a physician may perform an abortion and requires that she be informed of the risks of and alternatives to abortion, the probable gestational age of her unborn child, and the probable anatomical and physiological characteristics of the child at the time of the abortion.
- Alabama also requires an abortion provider to perform an ultrasound prior to an abortion and to provide the woman with an opportunity to review the ultrasound, along with a state-sponsored videotape and written materials detailing sources of public and private support, adoption agencies, fetal development, abortion methods, and the father’s legal responsibilities.
- The state requires abortion providers to state in their printed materials that it is illegal for someone to coerce a woman into having an abortion.
- One parent must provide written consent before a physician may perform an abortion on a minor under the age of 18, unless there is a medical emergency or the minor obtains a court order.
- Alabama defines “abortion and reproductive health centers” as hospitals and requires that they meet licensing requirements and minimum health and safety standards in such areas as personnel qualifications, records maintenance, pre-operative and post-operative patient care, and infection control. Abortion providers must also maintain hospital admitting privileges.
- Only a physician licensed by the state to practice medicine or osteopathy may perform an abortion.
- The state maintains an enforceable abortion reporting law, but does not require the reporting of information to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). The measure requires abortion providers to report short-term complications.
- Alabama follows the federal standard for Medicaid funding for abortions, only permitting the use of federal or state matching Medicaid funds for abortions necessary to preserve the life of the woman or when the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.
- The Alabama Office of Women’s Health may not advocate, promote, or otherwise advance abortion or abortion-inducing drugs.
- Alabama prohibits abortion coverage in the state health insurance Exchanges (required by 2014 under the federal healthcare law) except in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest, or ectopic pregnancy.
- Alabama offers “Choose Life” license plates, the proceeds of which benefit pregnancy care centers and/or other organizations providing abortion alternatives.
- Alabama defines a “person” under its homicide laws to include the unborn child in utero at any stage of development, regardless of viability.
- Alabama also defines a nonfatal assault on an unborn child as a criminal offense.
- The state allows a wrongful death (civil) action when an unborn child is killed through a negligent or criminal act.
- Alabama has created a specific affirmative duty for physicians to provide medical care and treatment to infants born alive at any stage of development.
- Alabama has enacted a “Baby Moses” law under which a mother or legal guardian who is unable to care for a newborn infant may anonymously and safely leave the infant in the care of a responsible person at a hospital, police station, fire station, or other prescribed location.
- Alabama maintains no laws regarding human cloning, destructive embryo research, fetal experimentation, or human egg harvesting, and does not promote ethical forms of research.
- The state maintains laws regarding the parentage of children conceived through assisted reproductive technologies.
- Alabama does not have a specific statute criminalizing assisted suicide. However, under the state’s common law, assisted suicide remains a crime.
- Alabama currently provides no protection for the freedom of conscience of healthcare providers.
- Alabama currently provides no protection for the rights of healthcare providers who conscientiously object to participation in human cloning, destructive embryo research, or other forms of immoral medical research.
- In November, Alabama voters approved a constitutional amendment that “prohibit[s] any person, employer, or health care provider from being compelled to participate in any health care system." As a result, if individuals, employers, and healthcare providers are not required to participate in a particular health care system, their freedom of conscience to object to providing or paying for certain services that are included in that system (e.g., abortion or “contraception” with life-ending effects) is protected.
- Alabama enacted a measure prohibiting abortion coverage in the state health insurance Exchanges (required by 2014 under the federal healthcare law) except in cases of life endangerment, rape, incest, or ectopic pregnancy.
- Alabama also made a technical amendment to an existing statute, clarifying that a requirement that a physician make a determination of the post-fertilization age of an unborn child applies only in circumstances when an abortion is sought or contemplated.
- The state considered legislation related to informed consent and ultrasound requirements for abortion, the regulation of abortion-inducing drugs, and funding for abortion.
- In Hamilton v. Scott, the Alabama Supreme Court affirmed that the protection of the state’s wrongful death statute extends to unborn children from the moment of conception.
- Alabama also considered legislation related to the parentage and inheritance rights of children conceived using assisted reproductive technologies (ART), as well as legislation concerning insurance coverage for ART.
- Alabama considered measures relating to pain management and palliative care.
- With help from AUL, Alabama, one of only three states that currently lacks any statutory protections for healthcare providers’ freedom of conscience, introduced and debated a comprehensive conscience protection bill.
- State Constitutional Amendment (providing that there is no state constitutional right to abortion)
- Abortion Mandate Opt-Out Act
- Defunding the Abortion Industry and Advancing Women’s Health Act
- Women’s Health Protection Act (abortion clinic regulations)
- Abortion-Inducing Drugs Safety Act
- Reflection period for abortion
- Women’s Ultrasound Right to Know Act
- Coercive Abuse Against Mother’s Prevention Act
- Child Protection Act
- Joint Resolution Commending Pregnancy Care Centers
- Unborn Wrongful Death Act
- Born-Alive Infant Protection Act
- Pregnant Woman’s Protection Act
- Prohibition on Public Funding of Human Cloning and Destructive Embryo Research Act
- Healthcare Freedom of Conscience Act
