Guest Author - Candance Gordon

When I told my dad I was the Pro-Choice Editor for Bella Online Magazine, he told me my state alone would provide me with lots of information to share with readers since our governor, Rick Perry, seemed to be on a mission to take away Texas women’s right to choose. Our conversation sparked an idea and I set out on a mission of my own: to share with my readers how each of the 50 states rate when it comes to reproductive choice. So, the last article of each month will be devoted to a particular state and their abortion and birth control laws. Our first state is Alabama.

Alabama governor Rick Riley, and both the state house and senate are anti-choice and, according to NARAL Pro-Choice America, 93 percent of counties in the state do not have an abortion provider. As a matter of fact, they haven’t repealed their pre-Roe law that makes abortion illegal, even if continuing with the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother’s health. Anyone who willingly performs an abortion, either through administering a drug or other method, faces a fine, jail time or hard labor. The only time abortion in Alabama is not considered a felony is if the pregnancy poses a risk to the mother’s life. A court found this rule to be unconstitutional and unenforceable.

However, a court did uphold Alabama’s requirement of mandatory counseling and a 24- hour waiting period before obtaining an abortion. Under this requirement, a woman may not have an abortion until she has been counseled about the procedure, the risk involved and the alternatives to abortion by a healthcare professional. She is also told her probable gestational period as well as the probable physical features the fetus has at the time of the abortion. The healthcare professional providing the information is required to do an ultrasound that the mother has the option of viewing as well as giving her the option of letting the doctor do everything in his power to save the “baby”, if it is born viable or she has reached 19 weeks of pregnancy.

At least 24-hours before the procedure, the healthcare professional is required to give the pregnant woman a packet of state-prepared materials that list adoption agencies, public and private agencies that will provide financial support for the duration of the pregnancy and a list of the father’s obligations to a child born alive. The packet also informs women that a doctor who performs an abortion without her “informed consent” is subject to lawsuit. It goes on to urge women to please contact one of the adoption agencies included in the packet before making their final decision regarding an abortion.

Alabama law also severely limits the availability of abortion to low- income women. Public funding for abortion is prohibited for women who qualify for state-funded healthcare unless continuing with the pregnancy puts the mother’s life in danger. But, some of these low-income women are given access to family planning coverage that includes various forms of birth control, examinations, HIV testing and much more, without having to pay a co-pay or premium.

Alabama also puts requirements on doctors that perform abortions that are not put on other types of doctors. If they perform over a certain number of abortions or do any type of advertising for their abortion services, they are required to obtain a special license not required by other physicians. The clinics must be run by a board certified OBGYN with at least 12 months experience and all clinics must have ultrasound equipment and are required to do an ultrasound before performing the procedure.

One area where Alabama is doing things right is in the issuance of emergency contraceptive. Despite fierce criticism from anti-choice groups, the Alabama Health Department began distributing emergency contraceptives in 2004. Despite an effort by Congressman Robert Aderholt to stop this practice, the health department has prevailed and Dr. Thomas Miller, family planning director of the state health department says he will continue to distribute emergency contraception, stating it’s a good thing for low-income women of his state.

Next month, we’ll see how Alaska, governed by former VP candidate Sarah Palin, fares on issues of reproductive choice. Until then, for more details about Alabama’s abortion laws and to see where they rank nationally, check out the NARAL Pro-Choice website.