(AL.com) As the Alabama attorney general’s office considers legal implications of an abortion ban in Alabama, two major pro-abortion organizations in Alabama announced Wednesday that they will be halting certain services temporarily.
The West Alabama Women’s Center, one of Alabama’s five abortion clinics, stopped providing abortions on Friday, but announced today that they will be closed until Monday, July 11, when they will reopen to offer reproductive health care services.
The Yellowhammer Fund, a 501(c)3 abortion fund and reproductive justice organization, announced Wednesday that they would “temporarily pause” certain services for the safety of their clients, supporters and staff. They wrote that they would be consulting legal experts on how to continue their work following the decision.
“In light of the fact that nobody seems to have any understanding of how this will be enforced and what is and isn’t allowable, at this point, it’s in the best interest of my staff to simply close until we reopen with absolutely no abortion services and no abortion referrals,” said Robin Marty, the operations director at the West Alabama Women’s Center. “We think we know what the law is, and we believe we understand what the law is, but we no longer have reassurances that they will uphold the law as it is written.”
Alabama’s 2019 Human Life Protection Act means that abortions are only legal when the pregnancy poses a direct threat to the person carrying a child. It’s unclear what constitutes that threat.
It’s now a Class A felony to perform an abortion, unless a process is followed establishing the medical need for an abortion. Some Alabama officials have also suggested that people who help a woman get an abortion could be charged with conspiracy. Attorney General Steve Marshall’s office said Wednesday it is “reviewing” the question.
Marty said she hopes to get clarity on what constitutes a medical emergency and the new legal protocols for managing miscarriages.
“These are all guidances that quite frankly, they’ve had since 2018 to come up with but they haven’t because they don’t care. They just want clinics closed,” Marty said of Marshall’s office.
The Yellowhammer Fund will still mail out emergency contraception and continuing family justice work, including “distributing diapers, baby wipes, period products, safer sex supplies, and other essential items” to the local community, a spokesperson told AL.com Wednesday.
The Yellowhammer Fund has previously offered funding assistance for abortion services, travel and lodging, among other needs.
Marty said she wants it to be clear that the West Alabama Women’s Center is not closed for good.
“This is a clear delineation that we are not taking any new patients when it comes to abortion, that we are not referring any new patients when they come speak to us about abortion, that we are following all the rules in the state of setting up for us,” Marty said.
