Baldwin County's only democratic representative has filed two bills to fight against the state's recent abortion ban, but supporters say the legislation faces an uphill battle.

Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, who represents District 33, which covers parts of the cities of Mobile and Spanish Fort, has filed SB 34 to repeal the Alabama Human Life Protection Act AHLPA.

The law was passed by the Alabama legislature in 2019 and was intended as a trigger law, meant to outlaw abortion if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade. When the courts did overturn the case in 2022, AHLPA became effective immediately.

AHLPA makes it a felony to perform or attempt an abortion within the state's borders unless the mother's life is in danger. The law currently provides for no other exceptions.

Figures also filed SB 35, which would create exceptions to the prohibition on abortion for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest.

In a press conference earlier this week, Figures said she had little hope that either bill would pass in the Republican-led Alabama legislature but that it is important to keep the topic in the public eye.

"I introduce these bills to reignite the conversation around the issue of women's rights," Figures said. "When the Human Life Protection Act was passed, it took away the rights of women to choose and to make individual medical decisions concerning their bodies.

"I thought it was apropos to let this legislature know that women are still crying out loudly to have the right to choose what they want to do with their bodies," Figures said.

The Baldwin County Democratic Executive Committee said the bill is a "reasonable approach" to protect victims of sexual assault.

"The law as it stands, passed by Alabama Republicans in 2019, is extreme and allows no exceptions for crimes of rape or incest. Under the current law, a severely intellectually disabled teenage girl would be forced to carry the child of her rapist, even if she has absolutely zero capacity to understand the circumstances and responsibly care for the pregnancy or the child after they are born," the executive committee said in a statement.

"If the Alabama Republican Party is unwilling to admit the errors of the law they passed four years ago, willfully ignoring the women of our state who needlessly suffer both mentally and physically as a result of a violent criminal act, then they are simply cruel and misguided politicians," the statement continued.

Supporters of the bills say the road to passage is a long one, even with public support.

Stephen Stetson, state director of Alabama Planned Parenthood said, "Although we haven't detected much appetite from the supermajority in moving forward with modifying, much less repealing, a ban that only recently became law, these bills do reflect a noble intent to bring Alabama's laws into line with public opinion.

"We know that even in our state, a majority of us are opposed to government overreach that criminalizes abortion in all circumstances," he said.

Stetson said that even with the passage of SB 35, those exemptions, while helpful, would touch on only a portion of abortion cases.

"We also, unfortunately, know that adding a few exemptions to an unconscionable ban on health care is unlikely to make much of a difference in the lives of most people. Abortions can save lives, whether or not the person can prove that they have been victimized by a sexual assault," he said. "Exceptions sound good but have proven to be nearly impossible for people to utilize."

According to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the national rape-related pregnancy rate is 5% per rape among victims of reproductive age (aged 12 to 45) equaling an estimated 32,101 pregnancies resulting from rape each year.

In Baldwin County in 2021, the most recent year crime statistics are available from the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency, there were 408 domestic violence crimes reported. Of those more than half, 57%, were rape.

In neighboring Mobile County, there were 4,435 domestic violence crimes reported in the same time period, 43% were rape.

Both bills have been introduced and are in committee.