NCJW opposes Edmund LaCour. Here’s why:
Whether voting rights, civil rights, or reproductive rights, Mr. LaCour has shown himself to be hostile to constitutional protections. He defended Alabama’s near-total abortion ban, one of the nation’s harshest, calling Roe v. Wade “unworkable” and “illegitimate” and asked the Supreme Court to overturn it. He argued that delaying abortion procedures during the pandemic was not an undue burden even when it endangered patients’ health. He also defended his state’s draconian ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth as well as Alabama’s racially discriminatory districting map.
Edmund LaCour’s stance on important issues:
Abortion Rights
As Solicitor General, LaCour has been one of the nation’s most aggressive anti-abortion state officials. He defended Alabama’s near-total abortion ban, which is one of the most draconian bans in the nation, calling Roe v. Wade “unworkable” and “illegitimate,” and urged the Supreme Court to overturn decades of precedent. During the pandemic, he argued that delaying abortion procedures was not an undue burden.
LBGTQ+ Rights
LaCour defended SB184, Alabama’s sweeping ban on gender-affirming care for transgender minors. The law makes it a felony for doctors to prescribe puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or perform gender-affirming surgeries, and even requires school personnel to out transgender students to their parents.
Voting Rights
Edmund LaCour filed a brief in Louisiana v. Callais arguing that race-based remedies to combat racially discriminatory maps were “flawed as a constitutional matter.” Two years after graduating law school, he filed a brief in Shelby County v. Holder, urging the Supreme Court to gut the preclearance formula in the Voting Rights Act, falsely claiming that it now “serves no purpose.” Later, in Alabama v. Alabama NAACP, he argued that states should be immune from private lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act. During the COVID-19 pandemic, he defended Alabama’s burdensome absentee voting requirements, which disproportionately harmed elderly, disabled, and Black voters.
Education and Career Highlights:
Edmund LaCour received his BA from Birmingham-Southern College in 2007, a Master of Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin in 2008, and a JD from Yale Law School in 2011. He served as Alabama’s Solicitor General starting in 2019.