AB22

**Abortion Abolition Bill 22** or **AB22** is one of the most controversial abortion laws of all time, given how extreme it seems to be. The law, passed by Alabama legislature in the early spring of 2022, not only recriminalized abortion, but reclassifies abortion itself as a form of "terrorism", with anyone found guilty of having an abortion being punishable by either life imprisonment without parole or death. The law also makes no exception for rape or incest scenarios, or even instances where the mother may die during labor. It does, however, allow for emergency C-sections to save the mother's life if possible.

The law was met by harsh criticism by both the pro-choice and pro-life groups, with pro-choicers calling the law a "war on women" and pro-lifers condemning the law as "insensitive to the life situations of women everywhere that factor into their motives for murdering unborn children." Abortion abolitionists, on the other hand, praised the law as the "only Godly solution to abortion in America."

## Overview

AB22 is controversial in that it is the first that not only criminalizes abortion, but also makes it punishable via the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole. It is also considered an "abolition bill" because, in another first in US history, it refuses to acknowledge Roe v. Wade as a legitimate law. It is due to this law that many pro-choicers consider the state government of Alabama to be a "rogue administration."

According to AB22, abortion was not only recriminalized but re-classified, not as healthcare, but a form of terrorism, thus explaining why it uses the death penalty to punish offenders. It also became the first law to ban abortion not upon detection of a fetal heartbeat but upon a woman getting a positive result on a pregnancy test.

## Reactions

### Pro-life

Pro-life groups across the country had mixed feelings about the law. Many condemned it, citing the law as "insensitive" to women everywhere due to it treating all women, regardless of their life circumstances as criminals. More specifically, pro-lifers took issue with the law specifying that abortion constitutes "terrorism".

Students Against Fetusphobia President Noelle Hawkins said in a press conference, "If abortion becomes terrorism simply because it is murder, then what will stop people from calling other forms of murder terrorism?" Another Students against Fetusphobia member, Carolyn Stairs, says, "What happened in Alabama is a tragedy. Yes, unborn children are protected but we also refuse to protect them at the expense of the women who have given birth to them. We do not believe it is Biblical or even Godly to treat all women as criminals simply because they have been misled by pro-choice rhetoric that has been broadcast for centuries."

Abortion abolition groups had different things to say about the law. Cynthia Bailey of "Free from Tyranny" called the law a step in the right direction, calling it "the only Biblical way to handle the injustice of abortion. God calls us to fully condemn abortion, not regulate it. You wouldn't regulate any other sin like adultery or sexual impurity, so why treat the murder of unborn children differently?"

### Pro-choice

Pro-choicers across the nation called the law "a war on women." According to Linda S. Makin of Students For Choice America (SFCA), the law is a "disgrace to women everywhere" and "the closest you can get to the Nazi Third Reich in the 21st century." Similarly, SFCA member Frances E. Cleghorn called the law "a form of treason against the government" and repeatedly called for Governor Kay Ivey to be impeached ever since she signed the bill into law.