Judge blocks AL clinic regulation for abortion facility mired in safety violations

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson has imposed a temporary restraining order against an Alabama law requiring abortion clinics to employ a physician with hospital admitting privileges, the Associated Press reports.

Originally passed in 2007, the law was acceptable to West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa for the next several years, but they filed suit upon their doctor’s retirement. In an 81-page ruling, Thompson deemed it unnecessary for women’s health.

WAWC is one of five remaining abortion providers in Alabama and as of 2013 it was responsible for 40% of all abortions in the state. As Live Action News reported last month, the abortion clinic has been cited for numerous safety violations, including improper record-keeping and failure to meet safety standards such as hand washing and supply cleaning.

Alabama has also taken recent action against other abortion providers as Governor Robert Bently terminated its Medicaid contract with Planned Parenthood, citing its “deplorable” fetal organ harvesting activities and declaring, “I do not want Alabama to be associated with an organization that does not” “respect human life”; and a bill to ban the sale of preborn babies and fetal body parts cleared a 12-1 committee vote in the state Senate.