Alabamians who receive an abortion could face life in prison under proposed law

Alabama state Rep. Ernie Yarbrough, R-Trinity, has filed a bill that would expand the state’s definition of “person” to start at the moment of fertilization in cases of homicide or assault.

HB518, otherwise known as the Prenatal Equal Protection Act, would also delete a provision in current state law that prohibits a woman from being prosecuted for homicide or assault of her own unborn child or for conduct relating to an abortion.

In Alabama, murder is a Class A felony, punishable by a life sentence.

Yarbrough filed the bill less than a week after a federal judge ruled that Alabama’s attorney general cannot prosecute people and groups who help Alabama women travel to other states to obtain abortions.

HB518 makes exemptions in cases where “the death or injury occurred in attempts to save the life of the mother and reasonable steps were taken to save the life of the unborn child.”

It also exempts spontaneous miscarriages and adds that “a victim of domestic violence or sexual assault may not be charged for the injury or death of an unborn child caused by a crime of domestic violence or rape perpetrated upon her.”

But in all other cases, the bill would require that prosecution be handled the same as if “someone born alive” had been murdered.

“…The sanctity of innocent human life, created in the image of God, should be equally protected from fertilization to natural death,” the bill reads.

Per its text, HB518 does authorize duress as a defense if the victim is an unborn child and the defendant is the child’s mother but adds that this defense is unavailable “if the actor intentionally or recklessly placed himself or herself in a situation in which it was probable that he or she would be subjected to duress.”

“The defense is also unavailable if he or she was negligent in placing himself or herself in such a situation, whenever negligence suffices to establish culpability for the offense charged,” it continues.

The bill adds that a person acting at the command or persuasion of his or her spouse is also not included under this defense unless there was “a threat of imminent death or serious physical injury.”

Efforts to reach Yarbrough about the bill were not immediately successful.

It is currently pending action in the House Committee on Health.

A similar bill of the same name has been considered multiple times in South Carolina over the past few years and would authorize the state to pursue the death penalty for abortions.