MONTGOMERY, Ala. — A Tuscaloosa abortion clinic has sued the state over a regulation that could cause the facility to permanently close.
West Alabama Women’s Center filed the lawsuit in Montgomery federal court last week against state health officials over a regulation that requires abortion doctors to have admitting privileges at a local hospital or a contract with a physician who does to handle patients with complications.
The requirement is not new. However, the clinic’s previous physician retired and the new doctor has been unable to gain admitting privileges or find a local gynecologist to take the contract. The clinic argued in the lawsuit that the regulation is unnecessary and that closure of the clinic will curtail women’s access to abortion in the state.
The clinic is one of five abortion providers in Alabama and one of two that provide abortions in the second trimester. The American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama is representing the clinic in the lawsuit.
“We’re asking the court to either strike the requirement or to make an exception,” said Susan Watson, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama.