Lawmakers Seek to Designate Alabama 'Right to Life' State

(CN) – Lawmakers in Alabama on Thursday are expected to approve a proposed amendment to the state constitution that would declare the oft-called “Heart of Dixie” a “right to life state” if ultimately ratified by voters.

The bill, introduced in February by Republican state Rep. Matt Fridy, proposes an amendment to the state’s constitution that would declare the state’s commitment to “the rights of unborn children.”

The measure would “declare and otherwise affirm that it is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful; and to provide that the constitution of this state does not protect the right to abortion or require the funding of abortion.”

If it survives the legislative process, the state’s voters will have the ultimate say in the matter. The proposed constitutional amendment would appear on Alabama ballots in 2018.