Alabama lawmakers passed the bill on abortion regulating that abortion clinics should not be located near elementary or middle school. The bill, passed by the legislature on Wednesday, can result in the closing of two out of its five abortion facilities.
The bill was passed by the state House in a strong vote after the state Senate passed the bill about two months ago, as reported by LifeNews. As for now, the lawmakers already sent the bill to Gov. Robert Bentley who is expected to sign the bill into law.
Under the new legislation, Alabama would ban abortion facilities within the radius of 2,000 feet from elementary or middle schools. Current abortion facilities within the radius will not get their license renewed by the state health department.
If the bill is passed into law, two of the state's five abortion clinics might be forced to close or at least move. One of them is a clinic in Huntsville, located across the street from a K-8 school. The clinic is the only facility providing abortion care in the northern half of Alabama. Previously, the clinic has already been asked to move to comply with other abortion regulations passed in 2013, requiring clinics to meet a certain safety code standards, as reported by Mother Jones.
The bill's sponsor, state Sen. Paul Sanford, noted that the measure will help protect young children from the chaos that sometimes occurs around abortion facilities where the clinic's patients and staff are often confronted by protesters.
"My hope is that no more in the state would ever open that close to small children," he said when the bill was passed by the state Senate in March.
According to AL, the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama (ACLU) said that it will take legal action of the bill is signed into law. The ACLU's executive director Susan Watson argued, "With precious little time remaining in the legislative session, and in the face of so many issues facing the state, Alabama's elected officials today chose to focus on attacking women's healthcare. We know that restrictions like these only endanger the health and safety of Alabama women."
The Alabama's House has passed a bill regulating that the state will prohibit abortion facilities from operating within 2,000 feet from elementary and middle schools. If the bill is signed into law, two out of the state's five abortion clinics will be forced to close or at least move.
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