Federal judge blocks Alabama abortion ban

A United States federal judge has blocked a controversial bill that would have made almost all abortions illegal in Alabama next month.

Many states passed similar bans earlier this year.

Alabama’s would have been the most restrictive because it would not allow exceptions for rape or incest. It also specified doctors who perform illegal abortions could be sentenced to prison for life.

New conservatives on the U.S Supreme court, Alabama, and other conservative states have attempted to enact new restrictions on abortion in the hopes of getting Supreme Court justices to reconsider Roe V. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion nationwide.

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson called the law unconstitutional.

“It violates the right of an individual to privacy, to make choices central to personal dignity and autonomy. It diminishes the capacity of women to act in society, and to make reproductive decisions,” says Thompson.