By Glynn Wilson –

As a political issue, the social wedge issue of abortion only serves to divide Americans and does nothing to solve any real economic or social issues facing governments at the federal, state or local level.

While public opinion polls have shown Americans equally divided at 48 percent of the public identifying themselves as “pro-life” or “pro-choice,” according to Gallup polling, the vast majority of people say they believe women should be able to choose to abort a pregnancy if her life is in danger or if it is the result of rape or incest.

Support for these allowances is nearly universal among pro-choice Americans, according to Gallup, but even 71 percent of pro-life Americans say abortion should be legal when the mother’s life is in danger and 57 percent say it should be legal in cases of rape or incest.

So the anti-abortion law recently passed in Alabama that would outlaw all abortions at all stages of pregnancy, except those determined necessary to save the life of the mother, “falls outside the views of most Americans,” Gallup concludes. “The bill is reportedly designed to directly challenge Roe v. Wade, but it may also test the bounds of public tolerance for abortion laws that don’t exactly square with Americans’ own beliefs.”

So when U.S. Senator Doug Jones condemned Alabama’s new abortion ban as “extreme” and “irresponsible” a day after the state’s Republican governor signed the most restrictive abortion measure in the country, he was well within the majority of public opinion in the country and the state.

He was not “acting like a Senator from New York or California,” as his Republican opponent in 2020 Bradley Byrne, the Congressman from Mobile, recently said on social media quoting the fake news Alabama version of Brietbart News, Yellowhammer.

“It’s time we replace Chuck Schumer’s Senator with a conservative who will fight for our pro-life values,” Byrne said.

Jones, on the other hand, told reporters: “I think this bill, frankly, is shameful. It is callous. This bill uses rape victims and victims of incest at all ages, even minors, as political pawns.”

The legislation signed by Governor Kay Ivey last week would make performing an abortion a felony in nearly all cases and contains no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Supporters hope to launch a challenge to Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision that made the procedure legal.

“To the bill’s many supporters, this legislation stands as a powerful testament to Alabamians’ deeply held belief that every life is precious and that every life is a sacred gift from God,” Ivey said in a statement after signing the bill.

Jones, the lone Democrat to hold statewide office in Alabama, said he thought the debate was focused on the “most extreme voices on both sides.”

“I just don’t think that it is representative of what most people in Alabama think or what they want from the government,” he said.

But the law’s sponsor, Rep. Terri Collins, said she believes a majority of Alabamians support it, according to the AP.

The Alabama abortion ban is the most draconian of several laws in other conservative states, including Kentucky, Mississippi, Ohio, Missouri and Georgia. The ban would go into effect in six months if it isn’t blocked by the courts, which Jones anticipates costing millions of dollars.

“This bill is unconstitutional as it stands right now and, I believe, irresponsible,” Senator Jones said.

The law has inflamed the passions of abortion rights advocates, inspiring demonstrations all over the state and country, and groups such as Planned Parenthood have vowed swift legal action to have the law struck down.

“We haven’t lost a case in Alabama yet and we don’t plan to start now,” said Staci Fox, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood Southeast. “We will see Governor Ivey in court.”

The legislation passed in Alabama would make performing an abortion at any stage of pregnancy a felony punishable by 10 to 99 years or life in prison for the provider. The only exception would be when the woman’s health is at serious risk. Women seeking or undergoing abortions wouldn’t be punished.

“It just completely disregards women and the value of women and their voice,” said Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, a Birmingham Democrat. “We have once again silenced women on a very personal issue.”

Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin issued a statement this week saying the new state abortion bill has cost the city two information technology companies already, as companies get onboard a boycott of Alabama due to its radical right legal stance.

Mobile state Senator Vivian Figures filed a bill on Tuesday to repeal the law, although it’s unclear how far it could get in the legislative body controlled by a super majority of Republicans, mostly white men.

“There are consequences for every decision we make as legislators, and for every vote we cast there are ramifications,” Figures said in a release. “However, some of these effects are unintended and I truly believe this has been the case for SB314. I do not believe my Republican colleagues had any idea what the consequences for passing this bill would be.”

Figures cited criticism from across the state as well as from President Donald Trump, Sen. Mitt Romney and 700 Club Founder Pat Robertson as reason for challenging the most extreme abortion ban law in the country.

“I felt that the least I could do was to offer a bill to repeal HB314 with the hopes that it would help to heal some of the wounds that my Republican brothers and sisters have inflicted on the great state of Alabama,” Figures said in a release. “Unfortunately this bill is serving as a detriment to the entire state of Alabama in terms of revenues and in terms of healthcare, particularly for women.”

Her bill highlights possible negative implications the law would have on the state including declining tourism and the costly legal battle from anticipated litigation. The bill also lists issues the sponsors believe should be addressed with the resources that would be allocated to the legal defense of the abortion ban such as infant mortality, rural health care and health insurance.

Figures was one of three women on the Senate floor last week. She argued for hours alongside state Sen. Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro and Sen. Roger Smitherman, D-Birmingham against the abortion ban bill.

“You are playing God, in my opinion, because you’ve already decided what needs to be done,” Figures said to Republican senators last Tuesday. “You all don’t rule the world. I mean, you may think you do, but you don’t.”

That is, as they say, “only in Alabama.”