The Alabama legislature late on Tuesday passed a bill that would tighten abortion restrictions, sending it over to Gov. Robert Bentley, who supporters hope will sign it. The bill mandates that all doctors performing abortions possess the necessary license required to admit patients to hospitals. It also requires abortion clinics to ask girls under the age of 16 to name the baby’s father—including his age. Opponents have charged that the bill is a back-door attempt to make abortion illegal and shut down the state’s five abortion clinics. A similar bill in Mississippi has faced legal challenges, but its lone abortion clinic has remained open.
