Alabama joins amicus brief supporting tighter standards for abortion clinics

Attorney General Luther Strange has signed on to a federal amicus brief on behalf of Alabama that seeks to bolster the legal case for requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have admitting privileges to a hospital in order to perform pregnancy terminations.

Alabama becomes to 24th U.S. state to stand with Texas officials in “Whole Woman’s Health v Cole,” a case challenging the state’s law requiring doctors to meet the higher emergency standards.

Alabama’s own law to that effect was previously struck down by U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson, ruling it unduly restricts a woman’s constitutionally guaranteed access to the procedure. Alabama is bolstered by recent decisions in favor of Texas’ right to mandate admission privileges, and many conservative attorneys general hope the trend will allow their own state laws to remain on the books.

The states are pleading their case in an amicus or “friend of the court” brief, filed to provide information to the justices of the U.S. Supreme Court they hope will inform their opinion in the case.

“There is no justification for affording preferred treatment to abortion rights by unleashing on each State the unwieldy inquiry of whether clinic regulations permit adequate access to abortions,” the state’s maintain in their brief hoping to sway the court.

“The Court has always recognized the States’ interest in regulating health and safety – for all patients, including women seeking abortions. It has identified as obvious areas for state oversight, the regulation of doctors and their staff, of medical facilities, and of emergency plans,” it reads.

The other states joining with Texas and now Alabama are Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.