Legal challenge to Alabama abortion law will go to trial, judge rules

By Verna Gates BIRMINGHAM, Alabama (Reuters) – A federal judge on Monday ordered a trial to determine whether a new Alabama law requiring doctors who perform abortions to obtain hospital admitting privileges poses a significant impediment for women seeking an abortion. Since abortion clinics typically use traveling physicians, the law could cause the closure of three of Alabama’s five facilities, a potential constitutional violation, abortion supporters have argued in court. In an 86-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson cited the possibility of an “undue burden.” He ruled the trial will focus on if the law violates the constitutional rights of women who want an abortion by imposing a “substantial obstacle.” “If the court finds that the statute was motivated by a purpose of protecting fetal life, then the statute had the unconstitutional purpose of creating a substantial obstacle,” Thompson wrote. “Evidence establishing that the legislature passed a statute with the purpose of closing down the clinic would suffice to establish a constitutional violation,” he added.