Sam Mattison
Alabama Political Reporter
Pro-Life supporters gathered on the steps of Alabama’s state capitol on Saturday, April 1, to petition Governor Robert Bentley with a proposal that they said would immediately stop abortions in Alabama.
Proposal 16 says the Governor can stop abortions in Alabama and he wouldn’t need approval from the Federal government to do so. The proposal said he could stop abortions with an executive order.
Jay Hinton, an attorney and speaker at the event, explained how this is possible.
Hinton said that it is the Governor’s duty to protect life in Alabama. He said the Governor can use the police power in the State to protect lives that are being threatened. Hinton said that abortions are a threat to life.
“With ink of a pen, you(Bentley) could save lives,” Hinton said.
Abortion was an issue during the 2016 presidential election with Donald Trump promising to appoint Supreme Court Justices that would overturn the abortion decision Roe v. Wade. This would effectively allow states to decide if abortion was legal in their states.
Proposal 16 doesn’t rely on the Supreme Court overturning Roe V. Wade.
Ted Frazier, an attendee of the rally, said that the federal government should have no place in deciding the legality of abortion. He said he considers himself to be pro-life.
“I think it should be a state issue,” Frazier said.
While he did say that he wasn’t comfortable with states that would allow abortions, they shouldn’t be forced to make abortions legal or illegal.
The event also drew a group of pro-choice protesters across the street in front of the Alabama Attorney General’s office.
Tina Goodson was one of those protesters. She was there as an individual and not representing a group.
“They’re pro-birth; not pro-life,” Goodson said while holding a sign that read: “Keep Abortions Legal.”
Goodson said that they care about the fetus in the womb but don’t care about the children once they come out. An advocate debating Goodson disputed that by saying that many in the pro-life movement engage in adoptions.
“I have no problem with abortion,” Goodson said. “I think it’s a woman’s choice.”
She said pro-life advocates care more about the fetus than the woman’s life.
“A woman is not an incubator,” Goodson said.
Samuel McLure, organizer of Proposal 16, invited the protesters to come listen to the rally while addressing the crowd, but the protesters stayed across the street.
Dr. Nancy Kincaid, an attendee at the rally and doctorate holder in Physiology, disagreed with Goodson. Kincaid was attending the rally as an individual and wasn’t representing an organization.
“The pro-life movement is about women,” Kincaid said.
Kincaid said abortion should be allowed to be decided state-by-state but said she didn’t agree with abortion.
“It’s not a blob of tissue,” Kincaid said. “It is murder.”
McLure said during his speech that he had been told that the Governor wouldn’t respond to Proposal 16.
“The blood is on your hands Governor,” McLure said in response.
Alabama’s legislature passed four pro-life bills on March 16. The bills included declaring Alabama a “pro-life state” and banning physician-assisted suicide.
