Alabama  GOP AG pushes 'criminal conspiracy' charges for people who help abortion-seeking women flee state

Brad Reed
August 31, 2023, 

Attorney General of Alabama Steve Marshall speaks to members of the press after the oral argument of the Merrill v. Milligan case at the U.S. Supreme Court on October 4, 2022 in Washington, DC. The Supreme Court heard oral argument of the case that challenge whether the new congressional map of Alabama violates the Voting Rights Act.

 (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall thinks that people who help abortion-seeking women flee his state should face potential criminal charges.

CNN reports that Marshall made a court filing this week in which he argued that "providing transportation for women in Alabama to leave the state to get an abortion could amount to a 'criminal conspiracy.'"

Marshall made his filing in response to legal complaints filed by abortion rights group the Yellowhammer Fund, as well as two women's health centers, who argued that the Alabama AG had absolutely no right to regulate efforts to help women get abortions in states outside of his own.

Marshall, however, is arguing that helping women obtain abortions in states where it is still legal should be prosecuted if such a "conspiracy" originated in Alabama.

"The conspiracy is what is being punished, even if the final conduct never occurs,” Marshall argued in this week's filing. “That conduct is Alabama-based and is within Alabama’s power to prohibit.”

Alabama currently has one of the nation's strictest abortion laws, making it far more likely than in other states that women seeking abortions will try to leave it to get care in other states.

Marshall has also suggested that he would not only prosecute anyone who helps pregnant women travel out of state but he would also prosecute women who take abortion pills.