Alabama Attorney General Concedes that 2019 Abortion Law Should Be Partially Enjoined

This May, a lawsuit was filed challenging Alabama’s 2019 abortion law (House Bill 314). The case, Robinson v. Marshall, is pending before Judge Myron Thompson in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Alabama. (No. 2:19-cv-00365).

Last week, the Alabama Attorney General filed a response to the plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction. He concedes that the law must be—at least partially—enjoined. The Attorney General recognizes that the Alabama statute is unconstitutional under the Supreme Court’s case law, but he states that he will ask the Supreme Court to overrule those decisions. He writes: "For now, though, this Court is bound by Roe and Casey, and these cases require that Plaintiffs’ motion for a preliminary injunction be granted with respect to the Act’s ban on pre-viability abortions."

This would seem to pave the way for the entry of a preliminary injunction against the Alabama statute, from which the Alabama Attorney General would appeal to the Eleventh Circuit and ultimately the Supreme Court.

Here is the Alabama Attorney General’s filing:

• Download Robinson - Defendant's Response to Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Here is the plaintiffs’ complaint and memorandum in support of their motion for a preliminary injunction:

• Download Robinson - Complaint
• Download Robinson - Memo in Support of Motion for Preliminary Injunction

Here is coverage from Abbey Crain at AL.com. and Kim Chandler at the AP.