Senate votes to ban abortion clinics near schools
MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) – State senators on Tuesday approved a bill aimed at forcing a north Alabama abortion clinic- that is across the street from a Huntsville public school- to move or close.
Senators approved the bill on a 27-6 vote, sending it to the House of Representatives for consideration.
The bill would prohibit The Alabama Department of Public Health from issuing or renewing a license to an abortion clinic that is within 2,000 feet of a K-8 public school.
The legislation is largely aimed at the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville. The clinic is located across the street from the Academy of Academics and Arts, a K-8 magnet school.
“My intent is to get it away from the school, to be honest. That is my hope,” Republican Sen. Paul Sanford, the sponsor of the legislation, said.
Dalton Johnson, owner of the Huntsville abortion clinic, said the clinic will go to court to fight the restriction if it becomes law.
“That bill is unconstitutional. We are definitely going to fight it if it makes it through the House,” Johnson said.
The Huntsville abortion clinic moved to its current location to comply with a 2013 state law that required abortion clinics to meet the same building standards as outpatient surgical centers.
Sanford said he put an amendment on the bill to tighten the impact. The original proposal would have banned clinics near any public school campus or property.
Sen. Linda Coleman-Madison, D-Birmingham, said she has fairness concerns about trying to force an existing facility to move.
“The facility was already there,” Coleman-Madison said.
Similar legislation was introduced last year in the Alabama Legislature, but the bill did not win final passage.
