Alabama Governor Robert Bentley signed two abortion bills into law that will restrict the number of clinics in the state and ban some procedures.
One of the bills prohibits the renewal of a health center license at a facility within 2,000 feet of a public K-8 school; the other prohibits dismemberment abortions, a procedure referred to as the “safest and most common” second trimester abortion, but involves dismembering the unborn infant and extracting the pieces from the womb. The first bill is set to close two of the state’s five abortion clinics in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, those two clinics performed 72 percent of the state’s abortions in 2014.
These laws clearly exhibit the state exercising its power. Sen. Phil Williams (R-Montgomery) sponsored the bill that banned dismemberment abortions.
“The Roe court literally made its decision because there was an absence of state law to the contrary in Texas,” he told Alabama Local News. “States do have a right to say in the abortion argument because Roe was based on an absence of state law as opposed to a pre-emption of state law.”
In regards to the power of the states, he said, “The very fact that there is a federal law does not make the federal law right or not allow any further adjustment at the state level. That’s why we have a 10th Amendment to the Constitution.”
Despite being a demonstration of states’ rights, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) has filed a legal challenge against the laws.
“It’s inconceivable to me that the ACLU would find this in some way in violation of civil liberties, which is what they are allegedly standing for,” Williams told The Huntsville Times. “Once again, the ACLU is only considering one life of the two involved. [Dismemberment abortions] are certainly not the safest for the baby. I think it’s inconceivable that we literally should see ourselves not taking a stand for what is right because something is common.”
Williams said that these laws should not be viewed as roadblocks to women who desire to have abortions.
“This is not intent to undermine federal law,” he said. “It’s an intent to preserve life.”
The laws take effect August 1.
