Alabama Governor Kay Ivey
Office of the Alabama Governor
Alabama’s Republican Gov. Kay Ivey announced Wednesday that she had signed into law a bill that bans doctors from performing abortions during any stage of pregnancy, punishable by up to 99 years in prison.
The legislation, which passed the state Senate on Tuesday, is the most restrictive abortion legislation in the country and is likely to be struck down by the courts.
Read more: Alabama lawmakers, with eyes on overturning Roe v. Wade, pass nation’s strictest abortion ban
The sponsors of the bill said they hoped that the court challenges would prompt the Supreme Court to revisit the landmark abortion decision Roe v. Wade.
The effort is the latest, and most extreme, in a national strategy by legislatures in red states to pass restrictive abortion rules in the hope of reaching the Supreme Court and its newly reconstituted conservative majority.
In a statement, Ivey acknowledged that the bill may be unenforceable “at least for the short term.”
“The sponsors of this bill believe that it is time, once again, for the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit this important matter, and they believe this act may bring about the best opportunity for this to occur,” Ivey wrote.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood have vowed to oppose the bill in court.
