Source: LifeSiteNews.com
Montgomery, May 12, 2016
Alabama has become the fifth state to protect unborn children from being dismembered in the womb, as Governor Robert Bentley signed the “Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act” (S.B. 363) today.
The new law bans dismemberment, formally known as dilation and evacuation (or “D & E”) abortion, which accounts for 96 percent of all second-trimester abortions.
Alabama Citizens for Life National Director Cheryl Ciamarra said the new law will end a “barbaric inhumanity in our state.”
Dr. Anthony Levatino, a former abortionist who performed more than 1,200 abortions during his career, described the grisly procedure in a viral video, as well as heartrending Congressional testimony.
While performing the abortion, he would tear a child limb-from-limb, removing the larger limbs before having to “reach in again and again with that clamp and tear out the spine, intestines, heart, and lungs.”
The bill passed the legislature handily, 30-2 in the Senate and by a 74-26 margin in the House of Representatives.
At one point during the tense House vote last week, Democratic legislators broke out into the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome” on the House floor in protest against this bill and another pro-life act.
The new law, which is sure to draw a legal challenge, will take effect in August. But pro-life leaders believe the law will impact the way Americans nationwide perceive abortion.
"The Unborn Child Protection from Dismemberment Abortion Act is starting to transform the debate about abortion policy in the United States," said National Right to Life President Carol Tobias this afternoon. "We applaud the efforts of our affiliate, Alabama Citizens for Life, and the pro-life commitment of the Alabama legislature and Governor Bentley in seeing this groundbreaking bill become law."
Kansas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, and Mississippi have also adopted laws to end dismemberment abortion.
Similar legislation is pending in Idaho, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nebraska.
This morning, Gov. Bentley confirmed through a spokesperson that he also signed a separate law that would prevent abortion facilities from locating within 2,000 feet of a public school. That law could close two of the state's abortion facilities.
