On June 24, 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Judge Thompson lifted the injunction, allowing the law to go into effect.
[9] The Human Life Protection Act classifies the performance of an illegal abortion as a Class A felony equivalent to rape and murder.
[13] Anthony Daniels, the Democratic minority leader of the House of Representatives, proposed an amendment to the bill that would allow abortions in cases of rape and incest, but it was rejected by a vote of 72–26.
[20] During the debate, Vivian Davis Figures asked Chambliss if he knew "what it's like to" suffer rape or incest, to which he answered that he didn't in both cases.
On October 29, 2019, U.S. District Judge Myron Herbert Thompson issued a preliminary injunction against the abortion ban, preventing the legislation from entering into effect on November 15.
"[26] On June 24, 2022, After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, Judge Thompson lifted the injunction; as a result, the law went into effect.
"[32] Conservative columnist David A. French opined that the law and other abortion restrictions could potentially lead to Roe v. Wade being overturned.
[36] On The 700 Club, conservative televangelist Pat Robertson stated, "It's an extreme law and they want to challenge Roe v. Wade, but my humble view is that this is not the case we want to bring to the Supreme Court because I think this one will lose".
[37] Conservative commentator Tomi Lahren called the bill "too restrictive" and said the ban "forces women into more dangerous methods" of abortion.
[38] Former president Donald Trump did not express opposition, but re-affirmed that he was opposed to abortion rights except in situations arising from rape, incest, and danger to the life of the mother.
[39] Hillary Clinton, the Democratic nominee of the 2016 United States presidential election, called the bill and similar legislation across the country "appalling attacks on women's lives and fundamental freedoms".
[40] Other Democratic politicians expressing opposition to the law included President Joe Biden;[41] House Speaker Nancy Pelosi;[42] Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer;[32] U.S. senators Cory Booker,[43] Kirsten Gillibrand,[44] Kamala Harris,[45] Doug Jones;[46] Amy Klobuchar,[47][48] Bernie Sanders,[49] Elizabeth Warren,[50][48] Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez;[51] former Representative Beto O'Rourke;[41] former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and mayor of San Antonio Julian Castro;[41] and South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg.
[41] Jena Griswold, the Democratic Secretary of State of Colorado, announced that she was banning work-related travel to Alabama in response to the bill.
According to the Yellowhammer Fund, after a social media campaign that involved sports journalist Shea Serrano and U.S. senators and presidential candidates Gillibrand and Harris, the group received tens of thousands of dollars that would enable it to expand its services.
[56] A previously unreleased poll from 2018 conducted on behalf of Planned Parenthood Southeast found that 31 percent of people in the state of Alabama would support a bill that would ban abortion with no exceptions for rape and incest.