On Tuesday, voters in Alabama approved a personhood amendment that gives constitutional rights to fertilized eggs and fetuses.
Amendment 2 says that it is the policy of the state of Alabama “to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, including the right to life” and declares that there is no right to an abortion or funding for abortion under the Alabama Constitution.
That means if Roe v. Wade is overturned, Alabama is poised to criminalize abortion across the board—including in cases of rape, incest, or when the health of the pregnant person is at risk.
U.S. Special Counsel Robert Mueller could challenge the appointment of Matt Whitaker, the acting attorney general, by saying that Attorney General Jeff Sessions didn’t leave voluntarily but was forced out by the president, a former federal prosecutor said.
President Donald Trump promoted Whitaker to run the department after Sessions submitted a resignation letter Wednesday at Trump’s request. Although Sessions had recused himself from the probe into Russian interference in the 2016 campaign, Whitaker will now assume oversight of the investigation, a duty that had fallen to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
But Mueller could argue in court that Trump effectively fired Sessions after months of verbal abuse, a legal concept known as a constructive discharge, said Renato Mariotti, a former federal prosecutor. Under the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Trump can appoint an acting official without Senate confirmation if he replaces someone who has been incapacitated or resigned. It doesn’t apply if the previous official was fired.
Sessions began his resignation letter by saying he was leaving at Trump’s request.
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