On Wednesday evening, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey signed the nation's most restrictive abortion bill into state law. The Alabama Human Life Protection Act makes it a crime for doctors to perform abortion procedures at any stage in a woman's pregnancy, without exemptions for cases of incest or rape.
Women across the country took to social media to denounce the restrictive ban, including Rihanna.
"Take a look," the singer captioned a photo of the male lawmakers who voted in favor of the bill's passage. "These are the idiots making decisions for WOMEN in America. Governor Kay Ivey...SHAME ON YOU!!!!"
The legislation is a near-total ban on abortion, the most restrictive law passed since the Supreme Court ruled in Roe v. Wade in 1973. The legislation criminalizes abortion, classifying it as a Class A felony, meaning doctors could face up to 99 years in prison should they perform the procedure.
States across the nation are passing legislation that challenges the constitutional right established in Roe v. Wade, including Ohio, Indiana, Louisiana, Georgia, and more. The wave of anti-abortion restrictions arrives after the ideological balance of the Supreme Court shifted when Donald Trump chose Brett Kavanaugh to replace the moderate justice, Anthony Kennedy.
Organizations such as the Center for Reproductive Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union have vowed to challenge the Alabama law in court. “All who care about women should be alarmed by the callousness and extremism of politicians who seek to deny women the ability to make decisions about their reproductive health and lives," Nancy Northup, President and CEO of the Center for Reproductive Rights, said in a statement. "Alabama’s criminal abortion ban, and all other affronts to Roe v. Wade, will be challenged and blocked in the courts."
