After an Alabama State Senate session devolved into a shouting match, legislators decided to table a vote on the most restrictive abortion bill in the United States. Senators were scheduled to vote on Thursday (9 May) on a controversial bill amendment. The amendment would criminalize abortions and make performing them a felony punishable up to 99 years in prison. It also states doctors cannot perform abortions once a fetus is ‘in utero’. This makes the bill the most restrictive legislation policing abortion anywhere in the country. The House version of the bill provided a single allowance for abortions in which the mother’s life is in danger. In the Senate, an amendment also allowed for exceptions in the cases of rape or incest, though legislators fiercely debated this. During Thursday’s sessions, Democrats shouted for a roll-call vote. A roll-call vote is when each senator audibly votes ‘yea’ or ‘nay’ on a bill and the votes are recorded. BREAKING: Alabama Republicans just tried to sneak through a measure that would make nearly all abortions a felony punishable by up to 99 years in prison without even so much as a normal a roll call vote. Watch all hell breaking loose on the Alabama Senate floor: pic.twitter.com/C9KKSGqbqG — Arlen Parsa (@arlenparsa) May 9, 2019 The state Senate is moving the vote to next week. A way to undo Roe v. Wade Rep. Terri Collins (R) sponsored the bill and stated its purpose is to spark a new debate on abortion. The end goal is for litigation to move through the court system, eventually reaching the Supreme Court and challenging the 1973 case Roe v. Wade. This is similar reasoning to the passage of Georgia’s recent restrictive abortion bill. Gov. Kay Ivey (R) is opently anti-abortion and many expect her to sign the bill into law if it reachers her desk. Abortion is a decision — and a right — that affects all women, not just straight women. It is an especially crucial health concern for LGBTI women, who have higher rates of younger pregnancies and are also being denied healthcare under the Trump administration. See also Gay US politician Brian Sims explains ‘aggressive’ confrontation with pro-life protesters Trump reinstates gag rule on healthcare for LGBTIs and women Planned Parenthood introduces new programs for gay men and trans people<doc-sep>Sen. Clyde Chambliss, who is shepherding the bill through the Senate, said in a statement to The Post that the measure “recognizes that an unborn child is a person, and therefore deserves the full protection of the law.” Despite the spirited debate on Thursday, he said, “ultimately, HB314 is going to pass, and Alabama is going to lead the nation in protecting the sanctity of life. Planned Parenthood can try to derail the bill, as they did in spending over a million dollars to unsuccessfully oppose a pro-life ballot measure last fall in Alabama. But the outcome will be the same: Alabamians will stand on the side of life.”<doc-sep>The Alabama Senate erupted in a shouting match Thursday after the state’s Republican lieutenant governor attempted to approve a motion to strip a rape and incest exception that was previously added to a controversial abortion bill. State Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D) took issue with Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth (R), who presides over the Senate, approving the motion to remove the exception on a voice vote instead of going to a roll call vote that the Democrats had wanted. Video from The Washington Post of the Alabama Senate floor shows a heated shouting match ensuing, with Singleton yelling, “No no, hold up, Mr. Chairman, Mr. Chairman!” as Ainsworth passes the motion. ADVERTISEMENT Ainsworth in the video can be seen asking for members to audibly signal support or objection for the motion as he passes it while Singleton shouts over him. Singleton then slams his hand on the podium objecting to Ainsworth’s quick passage on the motion without giving Democrats the opportunity for a roll call vote. The Senate, following the confusion, ultimately reversed course and decided to postpone a vote on the legislation until next week. If signed into law, the bill would criminalize almost all abortions and make it a felony for a doctor to perform an abortion in the state. A Senate committee earlier this week voted to add rape and incest exceptions to the bill.<doc-sep>Alabama senators got into a shouting match Thursday after Republicans suddenly stripped exceptions for rape and incest from a near-total ban on abortion in the state without allowing a roll call vote. Democrats acknowledged that Republicans had the votes to strip the exceptions, but after angrily denouncing the sudden move, a full vote that had been planned for Thursday was rescheduled to next week. "I didn't even hear the motion even come out of the senator's mouth before the lieutenant governor started gaveling it through," Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, a Democrat, told reporters at a press conference. "He rushed it before the man even get the motion out his mouth." Alabama senators were expected to vote on HB 314, a bill that would make it a felony for a doctor to perform or attempt an abortion, unless a woman's health was at "serious" risk. Otherwise, they could face up to 99 years in prison. Before the amendment was hurriedly approved Thursday, the only other instances when an abortion could be done would have been when pregnancies were the result of rape or incest. In a statement released Thursday, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth brushed aside criticism that he rushed the motion through and stressed that the bill would not only have an impact in Alabama, but it was intended to tackle the issue of abortion on a national scale by overturning Roe v. Wade. "Abortion is murder," Alabama's lieutenant governor said in a statement. "Now that President Donald Trump has supercharged the effort to remake the federal court system by appointing conservative jurists who will strictly interpret the Constitution, I feel confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn Roe and finally correct its 46-year-old mistake." Republican Gov. Kay Ivey has not commented publicly on the bill, but is expected to support it. With Democrats holding only eight seats in the Senate, the bill is expected to easily pass. Even so, the Senate ground to a halt Thursday when Republican Sen. Clyde Chambliss moved to table the rape and incest amendments, a committee amendment that under the rules of the legislature is not debatable. Three senators are required to raise their hands to spark a roll call vote, meaning each member of the legislature would cast a vote on the exceptions. However, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth quickly gaveled through the motion, prompting Singleton to raise his hand and object. "Heck no!" Singleton yelled as he hit the lectern with his hand. "He did not make a motion! He did not make a motion!" "He made a motion to table," Ainsworth responded.<doc-sep>
Alabama's attempt to crank out the harshest anti-abortion law in the country is on hold for now. On Thursday, the state Senate moved to pass a version of a statehouse-passed bill that effectively bans all abortions in the state. The original bill didn't contain an exception for rape or incest, but even after the Senate quickly tried to add one, a shouting match on the chamber floor got a final vote on the bill delayed until next week. The bill would criminalize abortions of a fetus "in utero" with a prison sentence of up to 99 years, allowing exceptions only when a mother's health is at serious risk. The Senate tried to add an exception for rape or incest to the bill on Thursday, and Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton (D) then said he'd like to have a roll call vote on every question surrounding the bill, AL.com reports. But Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth quickly gaveled for a voice vote on the amendment, and then said it passed as Singleton continued to yell against the swift proceedings. VIDEO: Chaos in the Alabama Senate. @willainsworthAL just gaveled down the amendments creating rape and incest exceptions, during abortion bill debate. #Alpolitics pic.twitter.com/TGpHpVkTu4 — Reshad Hudson (@ReshadHudson) May 9, 2019 As the shouting died down, Senate President Pro Tempore Del Marsh (R) announced a vote on the bill would be pushed to next week. The bill as introduced by a statehouse representative is meant to push the Supreme Court to re-examine the landmark 1973 abortion case Roe v. Wade. The uproar in Alabama comes two days after Georgia passed what its Gov. Brian Kemp (R) proudly called the "toughest abortion bill in the country."