In the latest news Alabama’s Governor Kay Ivey a Republican passed a new abortion law which is the most restrictive abortion law in the United States. Within this law the state banned any type of abortion. This includes Surgical Abortion, an invasive procedure such as Suction aspiration, Dilation and curettage, dilation and extraction, dilation and evacuation (D&E), and Hysterotomy. Another banned procedure is Medical Abortions these abortions involve the administration of drugs specifically intended to abort the child such as, Mifepristone (RU-486), Methotrexate (a highly toxic chemical directly attacks and breaks down the baby’s fast-growing cells), and lastly salt poisoning. Last but not least are the Chemical Abortions, these are caused by drugs that prevent the implantation of the already-created baby in the uterine lining. Examples of this would be Plan B, Depo-Provera, NuvaRing, and the Ortho-Evra. The legislation does makes exceptions for the health of the mother, and if the fetus has “fatal anomalies” that would make them unlikely to survive outside the womb. One thing that may raise an eyebrow is that rape and incest are not exceptions to Alabama’s ban. That has inspired a uproar of protest and public discussion. Writer Seung Min Kim of The Washington Post said, “President Trump has said he opposes abortion except in cases of rape, incest or when the life of the mother is at risk — is the same as that of former president Ronald Reagan. He urged Republicans to instead stay united on the issue, which the GOP has used to go on the offensive against Democrats, particularly in the wake of a new law in New York that has expanded access to late-term abortion.”

To make matters worse it is a felony in the state for a doctor to perform an abortion in nearly all cases. This is set to take effect in six months, but it faces a lot of legal challenges, human rights specifically. Stanton Brown, Senior of Franklin High said, “I’m kind of in the middle but all I’m going to say is that conservatives talk about how criminals will still get their hands on guns if we pass gun control laws (which is true), but the same thing is going to happen for abortion. It’s just like marijuana laws, it’s making something illegal that people are going to do anyway, putting doctors in jail for something unnecessary. I just think there needs to be better Sex Education, because if you don’t want a child then don’t have unprotected sex, but not all states teach that because of religious beliefs. Abortion is also a 1AC debate because most of the people that are against it are against it for religious reasons. I don’t think someone should kill a child, but abortion laws isn’t it chief.”

Another hot topic is pregnancy itself. For thousands of years, women have died from being pregnant due to life threatening factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity. There’s a mathematical ratio that measures the risk to a woman’s life from pregnancy this is called the maternal mortality ratio. This correlates to the number of women who die of causes related to or aggravated by pregnancy per 100,000 live births. In a 2018 in Alabama, the overall maternal mortality ratio was 11.9 per 100,000. Among white women, the 2018 maternal mortality ratio was 5.6, among black women, it was 27.6, making black women in Alabama almost five times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy than white women.  In part this is , due to inherited health conditions through a long history of bad diet and food practices. More significantly, it is a result of poorer access to healthcare sources.

Senior Carolina Dunn of Lafayette High School said, “I think that women should be able to make any decision that comes their way just like men. Also, people support pro-life because killing babies is unlawful but when you go to an abortion clinic you have to be 4-6 weeks or less to be accepted for an abortion. That means the babies are not developed fully and not directly feeling harm when they are terminated. Also 6 weeks is just 2 missed menstrual cycles. Many women don’t notice they are pregnant.”

Even though Alabama has banned abortion overall there are other routes a person may pursue to get an abortion, such as, traveling to another state where abortion is legal like Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas, even Virginia. Some may say this is either expensive or inconvenient but for some people there comes a point where they want to seek the best medical treatment and feel a sense of freedom to do as they wish. Doing such things can be dated back to the 1600s, when large masses of men and women came from England on ships to reach what we call now the United States of America to seek religious freedom and many other liberties. Former student of Bruton High School Alexis Street said, “Pro-choice doesn’t mean pro-abortion. It’s simply means being in favor of a woman making whatever choice she wants. You can be anti-abortion and pro-choice. For example, you can personally be against abortions but all for other women getting them if it’s in their best interest. I have a lot more to say but I am going to leave it at that.”

All in all this is what I have to say on Alabama’s new Abortion Law. But the big thing about the topic is the amount of debates that can strike because of religious beliefs, emotions, philosophies, legal reasoning, community choices and friendships.