Alabama 2025 Regular Session

Alabama House Bill HB518 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

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1	1	HB518INTRODUCED
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3	3	HB518
4	4	4HT1333-1
5	5	By Representatives Yarbrough, Butler, Whorton, Harrison,
6	6	Mooney, Carns
7	7	RFD: Health
8	8	First Read: 03-Apr-25
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14	14	6 4HT1333-1 04/03/2025 GP (L)lg 2025-794
15	15	Page 1
16	16	First Read: 03-Apr-25
17	17	SYNOPSIS:
18	18	Under existing law, a person may not be
19	19	prosecuted for homicide or assault if the victim is an
20	20	unborn child in utero and the death or injury results
21	21	from certain lawful medical care or medication.
22	22	This bill would create the Prenatal Equal
23	23	Protection Act and would authorize prosecutions for
24	24	homicide or assault if the victim is an unborn child
25	25	from the moment of fertilization at any stage of
26	26	development, unless: (i) the death or injury occurred
27	27	in attempts to save the life of the mother and
28	28	reasonable steps were taken to save the life of the
29	29	unborn child; or (ii) the death was a spontaneous
30	30	miscarriage.
31	31	This bill would remove a provision that exempts
32	32	from the crimes of homicide or assault the death or
33	33	injury of an unborn child allegedly caused by
34	34	medication or medical care or treatment provided to a
35	35	pregnant woman when performed by a licensed health care
36	36	provider.
37	37	This bill would delete a provision that
38	38	prohibits a woman from being prosecuted for homicide or
39	39	assault of her own unborn child or for conduct relating
40	40	to an abortion.
41	41	This bill would authorize duress as a defense to
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69	69	28 HB518 INTRODUCED
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71	71	This bill would authorize duress as a defense to
72	72	murder if the victim is an unborn child and the
73	73	defendant is the child's mother.
74	74	This bill would also require that prosecutions
75	75	of homicide or assault where the victim is an unborn
76	76	child must be treated the same as prosecutions of
77	77	homicide or assault of a person born alive.
78	78	A BILL
79	79	TO BE ENTITLED
80	80	AN ACT
81	81	Relating to crimes and offenses; to amend Sections
82	82	13A-3-30 and 13A-6-1; to create the Prenatal Equal Protection
83	83	Act; to provide legislative findings; to authorize the defense
84	84	of duress in certain cases against a woman for the death of
85	85	her unborn child; to authorize prosecutions for homicide or
86	86	assault of an unborn child from the moment of fertilization;
87	87	to provide exceptions for spontaneous miscarriage and
88	88	life-saving measures for the mother; to delete provisions
89	89	prohibiting certain prosecutions relating to the death or
90	90	injury to an unborn child; and to require that certain
91	91	prosecutions where the victim is an unborn child must be
92	92	treated as the same as if the unborn child were born alive.
93	93	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
94	94	Section 1. This act shall be known and may be cited as
95	95	the Prenatal Equal Protection Act.
96	96	Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares the
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126	126	Section 2. The Legislature finds and declares the
127	127	following:
128	128	(1) That in Section 36.06 of the Constitution of
129	129	Alabama of 2022, "[t]his state acknowledges, declares, and
130	130	affirms that it is the public policy of this state to
131	131	recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the
132	132	rights of unborn children, including the right to life;"
133	133	"[t]his state further acknowledges, declares, and affirms that
134	134	it is the public policy of this state to ensure the protection
135	135	of the rights of the unborn child in all manners and measures
136	136	lawful and appropriate;" and that "[n]othing in [the]
137	137	constitution secures or protects a right to abortion or
138	138	requires the funding of an abortion."
139	139	(2) That the Alabama Supreme Court has held that
140	140	Section 36.06 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, is a
141	141	"constitutionally imposed canon of construction, directing
142	142	courts to construe ambiguous statutes in a way that
143	143	'protect[s]...the rights of the unborn child' equally with the
144	144	rights of born children, whenever such construction is 'lawful
145	145	and appropriate.'" LePage v. Ctr. for Reprod. Med., P.C., Nos.
146	146	SC-2022-0515, SC-2022-0579 (Feb. 16, 2024).
147	147	(3) That the Constitution of the United States requires
148	148	that "[n]o state shall...deny to any person within its
149	149	jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."
150	150	(4) That, accordingly, the sanctity of innocent human
151	151	life, created in the image of God, should be equally protected
152	152	from fertilization to natural death.
153	153	(5) That all preborn children from the moment of
154	154	fertilization have the right to life and equal protection of
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184	184	fertilization have the right to life and equal protection of
185	185	the laws.
186	186	(6) That to fulfill this equal protection requirement,
187	187	the lives of preborn individuals must be protected with the
188	188	same criminal and civil laws protecting the lives of born
189	189	individuals.
190	190	(7) That all persons potentially subject to such laws
191	191	are entitled to due process.
192	192	Section 3. Sections 13A-3-30 and 13A-6-1, Code of
193	193	Alabama 1975, are amended to read as follows:
194	194	"§13A-3-30
195	195	(a) It is a defense to prosecution that the actor
196	196	engaged in the proscribed conduct because he or she was
197	197	compelled to do so by the threat of imminent death or serious
198	198	physical injury to himself or herself or another.
199	199	(b) The defense provided by this section is unavailable
200	200	if the actor intentionally or recklessly placed himself or
201	201	herself in a situation in which it was probable that he or she
202	202	would be subjected to duress. The defense is also unavailable
203	203	if he or she was negligent in placing himself or herself in
204	204	such a situation, whenever negligence suffices to establish
205	205	culpability for the offense charged.
206	206	(c) It is no defense that a person acted at the command
207	207	or persuasion of his or her spouse, unless such compulsion
208	208	would establish a defense under this section. The presumption
209	209	that a woman is subject to compulsion when acting in the
210	210	presence of her husband is abolished.
211	211	(d) The Except where the victim is an unborn child and
212	212	the defendant is the child's mother, the defense provided by
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242	242	the defendant is the child's mother, the defense provided by
243	243	this section is unavailable in a prosecution for:
244	244	(1) murder Murder; or
245	245	(2) any Any killing of another under aggravated
246	246	circumstances, as provided by Article 2 of Chapter 5 of this
247	247	title."
248	248	"§13A-6-1
249	249	(a) As used in Article 1 and Article 2, the following
250	250	terms shall have the following meanings ascribed to them by
251	251	this section:
252	252	(1) CRIMINAL HOMICIDE. Murder, manslaughter, or
253	253	criminally negligent homicide.
254	254	(2) FERTILIZATION. The fusion of a human spermatozoon
255	255	with a human ovum.
256	256	(3) HOMICIDE. A person commits criminal homicide if he
257	257	or she intentionally, knowingly, recklessly , or with criminal
258	258	negligence causes the death of another person.
259	259	(4)(3) PERSON. The term, when referring to the victim
260	260	of a criminal homicide or assault, means a human being,
261	261	including an unborn child in utero from the moment of
262	262	fertilization at any stage of development, regardless of
263	263	viability.
264	264	(5) SPONTANEOUS MISCARRIAGE. The natural or accidental
265	265	termination of pregnancy and the expulsion of the unborn
266	266	child.
267	267	(b)(1) Article 1 or Article 2 shall not apply to the
268	268	death or injury to an unborn child alleged to be caused by
269	269	medication or medical care or treatment provided to a pregnant
270	270	woman when performed by a physician or other licensed health
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300	300	woman when performed by a physician or other licensed health
301	301	care provider:
302	302	a. The undertaking of life-saving procedures to save
303	303	the life of the mother when accompanied by reasonable steps to
304	304	save the life of the unborn child; or
305	305	b. Spontaneous miscarriage .
306	306	(2) Mistake, or unintentional error on the part of a
307	307	licensed physician or other licensed health care provider or,
308	308	his or her employee or agent , or any person acting on behalf
309	309	of the patient shall not subject the licensed physician or
310	310	other licensed health care provider or person acting on behalf
311	311	of the patient to any criminal liability under this section.
312	312	Medical care or treatment includes, but is not limited
313	313	to, ordering, dispensation or administration of prescribed
314	314	medications and medical procedures.
315	315	(c) A victim of domestic violence or sexual assault may
316	316	not be charged under Article 1 or Article 2 for the injury or
317	317	death of an unborn child caused by a crime of domestic
318	318	violence or rape perpetrated upon her.
319	319	(d) Notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, both
320	320	of the following apply in any prosecution under Article 1 or
321	321	Article 2 where the victim is an unborn child:
322	322	(1) Enforcement shall be subject to the same legal
323	323	principles as would apply if the victim were a person who had
324	324	been born alive, including the same legal presumptions,
325	325	defenses, justifications, laws of parties, immunities, and
326	326	clemencies.
327	327	(2) District attorneys and the Attorney General shall
328	328	have concurrent authority to prosecute criminal cases and to
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358	358	have concurrent authority to prosecute criminal cases and to
359	359	perform any duty that necessarily appertains to such
360	360	authority.Nothing in Article 1 or Article 2 shall permit the
361	361	prosecution of (1) any person for conduct relating to an
362	362	abortion for which the consent of the pregnant woman or a
363	363	person authorized by law to act on her behalf has been
364	364	obtained or for which consent is implied by law or (2) any
365	365	woman with respect to her unborn child.
366	366	(e) Nothing in this section shall make it a crime to
367	367	perform or obtain an abortion that is otherwise legal. Nothing
368	368	in this section shall be construed to make an abortion legal
369	369	which is not otherwise authorized by law. "
370	370	Section 4. The changes in law made by this act apply
371	371	only to conduct that occurs on or after the effective date of
372	372	this act. Conduct that occurs before the effective date of
373	373	this act is governed by the law in effect immediately before
374	374	the effective date of this act, and that law is continued in
375	375	effect for that purpose.
376	376	Section 5. This act shall become effective on June 1,
377	377	2025.
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