Alabama abortion ban expected to impact LGBT community
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A new law in Alabama that will ban abortion in almost all circumstances is likely to impact on the state’s LGBT+ community, activist organisations are warning.
The ban was passed yesterday in the state Senate, with 25 white male Republicans voting in favour. Just six members of the house voted against.
Under the law, abortion will only be permitted when there is a serious threat to the health of the pregnant person. The bill will now go on to the Governor’s office to be signed into law.
Now, a number of LGBT+ rights activists and organisations across the US are warning that the law’s impact will likely extend to their community.
‘Reproductive justice is a critical issue for trans communities’
The Transgender Law Center said in a statement released today to PinkNews: “It’s extremely alarming how many states are currently pushing forward laws designed to criminalize and eliminate access to abortion care.
“Reproductive justice is a critical issue for trans communities, who already face barriers in accessing reproductive health care.”
Meanwhile, GLAAD tweeted: “Many LGBTQ people rely on abortion care and they deserve access to safe and legal abortions in the state they live in.”
Earlier this week, GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis responded to moves to outlaw abortion in other states and explained some of the ways that abortion bans can threaten LGBT+ people.
“When women’s rights are attacked, LGBTQ rights are attacked,” she wrote.
“Reproductive justice is a critical issue for trans communities, who already face barriers in accessing reproductive health care.”
– Transgender Law Center
“Cisgender lesbians, bisexual women, trans men, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming individuals all rely on abortion care,” she continued.
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She also said that LGBT+ women are more likely to experience poverty, meaning they may struggle to access abortion in other states.
The Alabama abortion law has been slammed as ‘a medically dangerous and morally draconian law’
Meanwhile, Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin slammed the new laws in a tweet.
“Last night, an all-male majority of lawmakers in the Alabama Senate effectively banned abortion outright. This is wrong, shameful, and un-American.”
The move was also condemned by the Los Angeles LGBT Center, who called the law “a medically dangerous and morally draconian law.”
They said it “threatens the well-being of pregnant women and the doctors who care for them. Access to reproductive healthcare is a critical LGBT issue, and all of us should be outraged by the precedent this law, if signed by Alabama’s governor, will set.”
News of the ban has led to international outrage from abortion rights activists. The terms of the law mean that those who provide abortions illegally will be subject to up to 99-years in prison, or a life sentence.
Furthermore, Senators voted against an amendment which would allow victims of rape or incest to have abortions.
Activists in the UK have pointed out that the new law bears similarities to the current law in Northern Ireland, where abortion has been illegal since 1861.
