Federal lawsuit filed to block Alabama’s new abortion ban

A federal lawsuit filed Friday in Montgomery, Alabama, asks a judge to block an Alabama law that outlaws almost all abortions, the most far-reaching attempt by a conservative state to seek restrictions on the procedure.

The American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood filed the lawsuit on behalf of abortion providers seeking to overturn the Alabama law that would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by up to 99 years or life in prison for the abortion provider. The only exception would be when the woman’s health is at serious risk. The law is set to take effect in November unless blocked by a judge.

“Make no mistake: Abortion remains — and will remain — safe and legal in Alabama. With this lawsuit, we are seeking a court order to make sure this law never takes effect,” She said the law “further shames” women seeking abortions and “punishes providers like myself, and stigmatizes essential health care.”

In other abortion-related news Friday:

• A federal judge temporarily blocked a Mississippi law that would ban most abortions once a fetal heartbeat is detected, at about six weeks of pregnancy. “Here we go again,” U.S. District Judge Carlton Reeves wrote in his order. “Mississippi has passed another law banning abortions prior to viability.” His new order stops the law from taking effect July 1. Reeves is the same judge who struck down a 2018 Mississippi law to ban abortion at 15 weeks.

• Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed a bill that bans abortions on or beyond the eighth week of pregnancy without exceptions for cases of rape or incest, making it among the most restrictive abortion policies in the nation.