Federal judge strikes down Alabama abortion clinic law

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that state lawmakers exceeded their authority when they passed a law last year requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges. He ruled that the state law, which would have led to the closure of three of the state's five abortion clinics, was unconstitutional. 

The Associated Press: U.S. District Judge Rules Ala. Abortion Clinic Law Unconstitutional
A federal judge says an Alabama law restricting abortion doctors is unconstitutional. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that state lawmakers exceeded their authority when they passed a law last year requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges. Thompson issued an order temporarily blocking enforcement of the law (8/4).

Reuters: U.S. Judge Slows Abortion Restrictions Tide By Striking Down Alabama Law
A U.S. judge on Monday ruled unconstitutional an Alabama law that threatened to close three of the state's five abortion clinics, while a trial opened in Texas with an abortion rights group trying to overturn restrictions imposed in that state. A number of abortion clinics have closed in recent months due to laws passed in 11 U.S. states requiring doctors who perform abortions to have admitting privileges at a nearby hospital. Supporters say the measure protects women's health while opponents say it is an unnecessary regulation designed to force clinics to shut down (Gates, 8/4). 

Los Angeles Times: Federal Judge Rules Alabama Abortion Law Unconstitutional
A law that would have closed three of five abortion clinics in Alabama is unconstitutional, a federal judge ruled Monday, concluding in an extensive 172-page opinion that a "climate of extreme hostility" toward abortion already makes it difficult for doctors to perform and for women to access the procedure in the state (Semuels, 8/4).

Politico: Judge: Alabama Abortion Clinic Law Unconstitutional
A federal judge has blocked an Alabama law requiring abortion providers to obtain admitting privileges at a nearby hospital, making it the second such law to be ruled unconstitutional within a week. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson issued an order Monday that temporarily blocks enforcement of the Alabama statute, which he said would place an undue burden on women seeking an abortion by forcing the closure of three of the state's five clinics. A federal appeals court issued a similar ruling last week on a Mississippi law, which would have shuttered that state's only clinic (Winfield Cunningham, 8/4).

The Hill: Federal Judge Blocks Law Restricting Alabama Abortion Docs
A federal judge blocked an Alabama law restricting abortion doctors in a victory for Planned Parenthood and other abortion-rights groups. U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that a law requiring abortion doctors to have hospital admitting privileges is unconstitutional. Last week, a federal appeals court ruled against a similar law in neighboring Mississippi. Advocates feared that the laws would shutter the handful of abortion clinics that remain open in those states and impose a burden on women. Supporters of the rules say they protect women in distress during difficult abortion procedures (Viebeck, 8/4).

Bloomberg: Alabama Restrictions On Abortion Doctors Unconstitutional
Alabama's requirement that abortion clinic doctors have admitting privileges at local hospitals unconstitutionally burdens womens' rights to the medical procedure, a federal judge ruled. While the decision is a defeat for abortion opponents who, in recent years, have pressed legislators across the country to enact laws limiting availability and regulating those who perform the procedure, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson in Montgomery, Alabama, confined his ruling today to the parties in the case before him and declined to immediately issue a sweeping injunction. The U.S. Supreme Court, in the 1973 ruling in Roe v. Wade and subsequent decisions, has declared women have a constitutional right to an abortion before a fetus is capable of surviving outside the womb and that lawmakers can't unduly burden access to the procedure (Harris, 8/4). .