NIRH Slams Alabama’s Abortion Ban as Most Extreme in the Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
May 14, 2019
Contact: Liza Dee, [email protected]

Miller: “What we’re witnessing in Alabama is the latest step in anti-abortion extremists’ race to the bottom.”

ALABAMA – Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health (NIRH), today released the following statement condemning passage of Alabama’s extreme abortion ban. The bill, HB 314, is essentially a total abortion ban, permitting exceptions only when a woman’s life is in serious danger and classifying the procedure as a felony, punishable by 99 years in prison for medical providers who perform abortions.

“What we’re witnessing in Alabama is the latest step in anti-abortion extremists’ race to the bottom,” said Andrea Miller, President of the National Institute for Reproductive Health. “Emboldened by the Trump administration and its hostile Supreme Court appointments, anti-abortion lawmakers see this as their opportunity to overturn Roe v. Wade and not only strip away a woman’s right to make choices about her own body, life, and future, but to prosecute and punish medical professionals for providing the compassionate abortion care women need. The people of Alabama deserve better.

“The National Institute for Reproductive Health remains committed to working with states and cities across the country to pass legislation that protects access to abortion no matter what happens in Washington,” Miller continued. “Now more than ever, the onus is on states and cities to stand up for women in the face of these unprecedented, egregious attacks.”

For more than a decade, NIRH has been a leader in the fight to advance reproductive freedom across the country. Recently, they were integral to the successful effort to repeal an outdated criminal abortion ban in Massachusetts, and they led the fight to pass New York’s landmark Reproductive Health Act. Earlier this year, NIRH published a report tracking the passage of more than 100 bills to advance reproductive health, rights, and justice in 27 states and the District of Columbia (D.C.).

###

The National Institute for Reproductive Health builds power at the state and local level to change public policy, galvanize public support, and normalize women’s decisions about abortion and contraception.

Using a partnership model, NIRH provides state and local advocates with strategic guidance, hands-on support, and funding to create national change from the ground up. We form strategic partnerships with a wide range of organizations to directly impact the reproductive health and lives of women across the country. Each year, NIRH works in at least 20 states and more than a dozen localities; to date, NIRH has partnered with more than 170 reproductive health, rights, and justice organizations in 43 states and 64 localities across the country.