An Alabama law banning brutal dismemberment abortions received the support of 21 states this week as Alabama leaders ask the U.S. Supreme Court to uphold the law.
On Monday, Alabama Attorney General Steven Marshall said 21 states filed an amicus curiae brief in favor of their pro-life law, according to the Gadsden Times.
“The support of these states underscores how significant the national interest is in resolving this issue,” Marshall said in a statement. “At least nine states have enacted similar laws, and litigation is pending in the Fifth Circuit, the Eighth Circuit and multiple state courts.”
A dismemberment abortion is performed on a nearly fully-formed, living unborn baby in the second trimester. It is a barbaric and dangerous procedure in which the unborn baby is ripped apart in the womb and pulled out in pieces while his/her heart is still beating.
Alabama lawmakers enacted the Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Act to ban the gruesome procedure in 2016, but two abortion businesses, the West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa and the Alabama Women’s Center in Huntsville, sued to stop it. The ACLU also is involved in the case.
In August, a federal appeals court upheld an order prohibiting the state from enforcing the law. But in October, state leaders appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In their brief this week, the states argued that dismemberment abortions are brutal and inhumane, according to the Alabama Political Reporter.
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“It is also beyond serious question that this abortion procedure threatens to undermine respect for life. Alabama is thus empowered to defend against that threat,” the brief states.
Here’s more from the report:
The 2016 state law requires that doctors terminate the fetus before removing it. The state said in its appeal that the law doesn’t prevent other methods that include the injection of potassium chloride to first terminate the fetus before removal.
“In requiring fetal demise before dismemberment, amici do not intend to sanction either abortion generally or the dismemberment procedure in particular,” the brief reads. “They regret that Supreme Court precedent places them in the incongruous position of advocating for fetal death as a less brutal, more humane alternative to a procedure that should have no place in a civilized society.”
But opponents of the law said there is no safe or effective way for an abortion practitioner to terminate an unborn fetus before dismembering it.
The states that support the law are: Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia and Kentucky.
The dismemberment abortion ban has the potential to save hundreds of unborn babies in Alabama. In 2014, there were 594 abortions that occurred in the second trimester or later, the Montgomery Advertiser reported previously.
The dismemberment law embodies model legislation from the National Right to Life Committee that would ban “dismemberment abortion,” using forceps, clamps, scissors or similar instruments on a living unborn baby to remove him or her from the womb in pieces.
“Alabama children should be protected by law from being torn limb from limb,” said Bill Klein, president of Alabama Citizens For Life, previously. “No human should die this way in a civilized society. It shows a total disrespect for the sanctity of human life.”
Nine states have passed dismemberment abortion bans to protect unborn babies, but most are being challenged in court.
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Author: Micaiah Bilger
