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September 5, 2023By Kate Scanlon, OSV News
(OSV News) -- Alabama's Republican Attorney General Steve Marshall argued in a recent court filing that he has the right to prosecute those who provide funds or facilitate travel for out-of-state abortions.
The Aug. 28 filing in U.S. district court in Montgomery responded to a lawsuit filed against Marshall the previous month by two women's clinics and the Yellowhammer Fund abortion advocacy group for what they characterized as Marshall's threat to prosecute those who facilitate abortions through transporting or funding those seeking legal abortions out of state.
Alabama banned most abortions, unless the mother's life or health is at serious risk, following the U.S. Supreme Court's Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization decision in June 2022 that overturned prior rulings by the high court making abortion access a constitutional right.
In his filing, Marshall argued those facilitating travel or funds for those leaving Alabama to undergo an abortion may be participating in a "criminal conspiracy," since abortion is generally illegal in the state.
"An elective abortion performed in Alabama would be a criminal offense; thus, a conspiracy formed in the State to have that same act performed outside the State is illegal," the filing stated.
The filing was condemned by activists and lawmakers who support legal abortion, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., who wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, Aug. 30 that "California will NOT cooperate with any state that attempts to prosecute women or doctors for receiving or providing reproductive care."
Marshall replied that "we aren't asking for your permission."
"Alabama will not permit abortionists to defy our laws and enrich themselves by marketing hopelessness to women," he wrote.
The 14th Amendment generally protects interstate travel, and even the most strict state abortion bans don't attempt to criminalize travel for seeking abortion in other states, except for Idaho, which has moved to restrict such travel for minors without parental consent.
Marshall's Aug. 28 motion to dismiss the case does not address the question of whether women seeking to undergo an abortion themselves could be included in hypothetical criminal conspiracy charges. Marshall previously caused controversy by suggesting that women who undergo medication abortions in the state could still be subject to prosecution -- under the state's chemical endangerment law -- a position rejected by national pro-life organizations.
In a May 12, 2022, letter to state lawmakers following the leak of the Supreme Court's then-drafted decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization but prior to the formal ruling, national pro-life leaders wrote that they oppose criminalizing women in any potential new abortion restrictions.
These leaders included Jeanne Mancini, president of the March for Life and its lobbying arm; Baltimore Archbishop William E. Lori, then chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops; and Destiny Herndon-De La Rosa, the founder and president of New Wave Feminists.
"As national and state pro-life organizations, representing tens of millions of pro-life men, women and children across the country, let us be clear: We state unequivocally that any measure seeking to criminalize or punish women is not pro-life and we stand firmly opposed to such efforts," their letter said.
Asked about Marshall's comments by OSV News, Herndon-De La Rosa cited a quote by writer Frederica Mathewes-Green, "No woman wants an abortion like she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion like an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg."
"Well-meaning pro-choice people see the pregnant person in this situation and say, 'Oh, poor thing ... let us help you gnaw your leg off so you'll be free,'" Herndon-De La Rosa said. "Whereas pro-life feminists see the same situation and demand that the trap be removed altogether. We work to address poverty, lack of health care, access to preventative measures and true systemic change, because we don't believe that the way to help someone caught in this situation is to assist in their maiming."
"So, while these activists think they are helping, they are really just perpetuating more hardships and violence by harming not just the pregnant person, but also the most vulnerable human being caught in that trap -- the unborn child," Herndon-De La Rosa said.
