OK, all your anti-choice people who think the Alabama law is fine, hereās what you also need to know about parental rights in Alabama AND about rape laws in Alabama.
Time to drop some legal research on yāalls asses.Ā I got home from work at like 8:30 PM today and Iām still wired. Iām not really hungryā¦so I guess Iāll just feed EVERYBODY ON THE INTERNET.Ā With SOME TRUTH BOMBS.Ā
1) GUESS WHAT? IN ALABAMA, IF YOU RAPE A WOMAN AND THEY HAVE A BABY, THATāS NOT GROUNDS TO TERMINATE YOUR PARENTAL RIGHTS.Ā
OK this is actually something that I havenāt seen anybody commenting on, so Iām going to make this point first.Ā In tons of states, itās not actually an automatic termination of a personās parental rights just because they raped the other party, which lead to a child. In Alabama, thereās no law that specifically protects or prohibits a rapist from claiming parental rights.Ā In 2017, there was an attempt to pass a bill that would affirmatively terminate theĀ āparental rights of somebody who commits the crime of rape in the first degree which results in the conception of a child.ā Unfortunately, that bill died in the chamber.Ā What this means is that even if a man is convicted of rape, and that rape (due to the new alabama law preventing abortion) results in a child being born, you still have TO GO THROUGH A FULL CUSTODY HEARING to terminate his rights.Ā
2) Guess what? Iāve JUST READ the new bill.Ā It doesnāt actually specify a 6 week deadline. What it says? IS A WHOLE. LOT. WORSE.Ā
So itās really interesting because you can find the full text of the bill here.
While the bill mentions something aboutĀ āheartbeatsā (again, debatable, wonāt go there now) being detected at six weeks, it doesnāt actually define an unborn child as starting at 6 weeks or sayĀ āabortion can be performed before six weeks but not after.āĀ
1) anĀ āunborn childā is a child āIN UTERO, AT ANY STAGE OF DEVELOPMENT, REGARDLESS OF VIABILITY.ā Soā¦actually? Itās defining a child as A PERSON LITERALLY AT ANY STAGE. NO MATTER HOW FAR ALONG YOU ARE.
2) If you kill anĀ āunborn childā itās considered homicide. (side note: Alabama law is particularly extreme in this regard).Ā (side note 2: it also goes into this weird extended metaphor about genocide and the Holocaust, and compares abortion numbers to that).Ā
3) Women* who are getting the abortion are not to be held criminally OR civilly liable for the abortion.Ā Neither can any doctors who are confirming the serious health risk of a pregnancy that would require an abortion.Ā
4) Serious health is required to get ANY abortion. AT ANY TIME. The law defines that as basically something that would cause her death orĀ āsubstantial physical impairment of a basic bodily function.ā IT EXPRESSLY DOES NOT INCLUDE MENTAL ILLNESS OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, UNLESS you have a second physician (who is also a licensed psychiatrist, with three years of clinical experience) confirming the diagnosis and CONFIRMING that her diagnosis is such that it would result in her death or the death of the unborn child due to herĀ āconduct.ā Meaning, she will try to kill herself in a super concrete way, or she will try to abort the fetus on her own if we donāt let this go through. But only because sheās certifiably diagnosed with something.Ā
5) Performing an abortion that is NOT OUT OF MEDICAL EMERGENCY with a SERIOUS HEALTH RISK to the mother/unborn child? itās a Class A Felony. Attempting is a Class C felony.Ā
Note that with this definition of woman it shuts out statutory rape too.Ā I mean it point blank makes no rape or incest exceptions, but it flat out defines a woman as a person who is female, regardless of whether or not theyāve reached majority.Ā
Also it says that itās ok if itās an ectopic pregnancy or if thereās a lethal anomaly found in the fetus (meaning itās got some sort of genetic defect causing it to die in utero or will die when born). THESE ARE THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS. THE WOMANāS DEATH, THE FETUSāS DEATH, OR ECTOPIC PREGNANCY.Ā
3) So what does that mean, aĀ āclass A felony?ā
Well, to be frank, it means thatĀ āOn conviction of a Class A felony, he or she must be punished by imprisonment for life or for any term of not less than 99 years. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-5-9).**
A Class B Felony meansĀ āOn conviction of a Class B felony, he or she must be punished by imprisonment for life or any term of not less than 20 years.(Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-5-9).
A Class C felony meansĀ āOn conviction of a Class C felony, he or she must be punished by imprisonment for life or for any term of not more than 99 years but not less than 15 years. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-5-9).Ā Ā
So basically a Class A has a MINIMUM sentence of 99 years/life.Ā A Class B has a minimum sentence of 20 years, and a Class C has a minimum sentence of 15 years, but a max term of life.Ā Thereās a bunch of stuff about committing multiple felonies and combinations thereof, but letās leave that for another time.Ā
4) Where does rape fall on this scale of Felony Classes?Ā
Ohhhhhh boy. OK. First Degree rape (a Class A felony) is defined as:Ā
(1) He or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex by forcible compulsion; or(2) He or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated; or(3) He or she, being 16 years or older, engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex who is less than 12 years old. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-6-61).Ā Ā
As you can see, thatās pretty problematic, esp. since it has to be committed by a member of the opposite sex. (Note:Ā Ala.Code 1975 Ā§ 13A-6-63 defines sodomy, and first degree sodomy IS ALSO class A, but can only be committed by a man).Ā
Second degree rape (Class B Felony)
(a) A person commits the crime of rape in the second degree if:(1) Being 16 years old or older, he or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex less than 16 and more than 12 years old; provided, however, the actor is at least two years older than the member of the opposite sex.(2) He or she engages in sexual intercourse with a member of the opposite sex who is incapable of consent by reason of being mentally defective. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-6-62 )
FirstĀ Degree Sexual Abuse (Class C Felony):Ā
(a) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse in the first degree if:(1) He subjects another person to sexual contact by forcible compulsion; or(2) He subjects another person to sexual contact who is incapable of consent by reason of being physically helpless or mentally incapacitated.(b) Sexual abuse in the first degree is a Class C felony. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-6-66 )
Sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old (Class B)
(a) A person commits the crime of sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old if he or she, being 16 years old or older, subjects another person who is less than 12 years old to sexual contact.(b) Sexual abuse of a child less than 12 years old is a Class B felony. (Ala. Code Ā§ 13A-6-69.1 )
SO WHAT DOES THAT MEAN WHEN COMPARED TO ABORTION?Ā
A) abortions on ANY FEMALE PERSON, REGARDLESS OF THEIR AGE, ARE BANNED UNLESS YOU CAN PROVE A SERIOUS HEALTH RISK CAUSING BASICALLY DEATH OR LOSS OF PHYSICAL FUNCTION.Ā
B) Thereās not actually aĀ āsix weeksā permissible thing.Ā If youāre pregnant AT ANY STAGE, IF THERE IS ANY SORT FERTILIZATION, itās banned.Ā
C) Yes, even in the case of rape or incest.
D) That even if itās a minor. A child. literally A PERSON WHO IS PREGNANT AT ANY AGE, you are not allowed to have an abortion.Ā
E) That doctors who perform an abortion that doesnāt fit these guidelines will be held the same sentencing as a first degree rapist (much more severe than a second degree rapist or a first degree sexual abuser).Ā Ā Even if the rapist gets a woman pregnant.Ā
F) Even if that rapist gets a 10 year old pregnant.Ā
G) And that rapist still automatically will have parental rights over that baby.Ā
TLDR: Itās actually way worse than people are reporting and this is INCREDIBLY unconstitutional.Ā The bill actually references Roe v. Wade directly, and practically DARES the SCOTUS to come after it.Ā If you THINK THAT THIS IS OK, OR THINK THIS IS NOT A BIG DEAL, YOU ARE SADLY MISTAKEN.Ā
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*Note: I know not onlyĀ āwomenā can get pregnant. I know transmen and gender queer persons with uteri exist. This law is specifically written withĀ āwomenā being the pregnant party, and definesĀ āwomanā asĀ āa female human being, whether or not she has reached the age of majority.āĀ
**I researched directly in Westlaw, as it was much easier to do than find reliable versions online. But Iām providing the legal citation in parenthesis for people so all you have to do is google the specific citation and you can find these. THese are all the current versions, btw.Ā
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