CRACKDOWN

AL Governor Signs Bill Regulating Abortion Clinics Like Sex Offenders

To regulate clinics like sex offenders.

Alabama’s governor signed a bill into law Thursday that would likely shutter two of the state’s five abortion clinics by treating them in the same manner as sex offenders. Like registered pedophiles, the clinics cannot operate within 2,000 feet of a middle or elementary school. The state’s Huntsville clinic had to move two years ago in order to fill guidelines set in 2013 by state legislators. Despite the law, James Owens of Naral Pro-Choice America noted there are no other laws in the nation that regulate what medical procedures are allowed to be performed within proximity of a school or other public building. Several organizations are already organizing to fight the law, including the American Civil Liberties Union.