Groups filed lawsuit to block extreme ban before it can take effect as Missouri’s governor signed an eight-week ban into law on Friday

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

Civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit to stop Alabama from implementing a law making abortion a crime at any stage of pregnancy.

The lawsuit, brought by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and Planned Parenthood Federation of America on behalf of Alabama abortion providers, seeks to block the near-total abortion ban before it can take effect.

It came as Missouri’s governor, Mike Parson, signed a ban on abortions after eights weeks of pregnancy on Friday, without exceptions for cases of rape or incest. States including Kentucky, Georgia, Ohio and Mississippi have also enacted strict limits on abortion, banning it after about six weeks into pregnancy.

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Under Missouri’s law, which is intended to come into force on 28 August, doctors who violate the eight-week cutoff could face five to 15 years in prison. A legal challenge is expected, although it is unclear when that might occur.

Alabama’s law, approved by the legislature and signed by the governor, Kay Ivey, earlier this month, is the strictest in the US, and threatens doctors with felony charges and up to 99 years in prison for performing an abortion, with no exception for rape and incest. It allows abortions only if there is a serious threat to the woman’s health.

The lawsuit argues that the ban blatantly violates the supreme court’s landmark ruling legalizing abortion in the Roe v Wade case – which supporters of the legislation have acknowledged is the case. Their hope is to get to the high court and get that ruling overturned.

Dr Yashica Robinson, owner of Alabama Women’s Center and one of the plaintiffs in the case, said her patients “already have to overcome so much just to get to our doors, and this law further shames them, punishes providers like myself and stigmatizes essential healthcare.

“Alabama has a long track record of passing laws designed to close clinics and push abortion care out of reach, and just like we have before, we will fight for our patients and do all we can to stay open,” she said.

Both sides expect the legislation to be blocked by lower courts, which must follow supreme court precedents. The complaint was filed on Friday in US federal court for the middle district of Alabama. It asks for an order declaring the ban unconstitutional and blocking it from being enforced.

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“Make no mistake: abortion remains – and will remain – safe and legal in Alabama,” said Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama. “We hope our state’s elected leaders take note and stop using taxpayer dollars on a legal gamble that they know is unconstitutional and unenforceable.”

Alabama’s attorney general, Steven Marshall, named as the lead defendant in the suit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Unlike Alabama’s near-total abortion ban, lawmakers who helped draft the Missouri bill say it’s meant to withstand court challenges instead of spark them. If the eight-week ban is struck down, the bill includes a ladder of less-restrictive time limits at 14, 18 or 20 weeks.

Missouri’s bill also includes an outright ban on abortions except in cases of medical emergencies, but that would kick in only if the supreme court’s landmark 1973 Roe v Wade decision that legalized abortion is overturned.

Missouri already has some of the nation’s most restrictive abortion regulations, including a requirement that doctors performing abortions have partnerships with nearby hospitals. Missouri is down to one clinic performing abortions, which is in St Louis.

Associated Press contributed to this report