FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 9, 2016
[email protected]
With two extreme, anti-choice bills in Alabama on their way to becoming law, NARAL Pro-Choice America urged Governor Robert Bentley to stand up for women and families in the state and veto the measures. The bills, SB 363 and SB 205, passed through the state legislature last week and are currently awaiting action by the governor. One of the bills, SB 363, would ban one of the safest and most commonly used second trimester abortion procedure without an adequate exception for women’s health. The other bill, SB 205, is intended to close a specific abortion clinic in Huntsville by prohibiting the issuing or renewing of licenses for abortion clinics located within 2,000 feet of a public school. This medically unnecessary regulation places restrictions similar in scope to those the state places on convicted sex offenders.
In a letter to Alabama Governor Robert Bentley, NARAL Pro-Choice America President Ilyse Hogue lambasted the bills and urged a swift veto:
“Instead of focusing on divisive and unjustly targeted restrictions like these, we can and should seek a common ground,” wrote Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America. “There is much to be done to improve women’s health in Alabama, including enhanced access to prenatal care, which can prevent health complications during pregnancy and therefore reduce the need for abortion. These bills—that criminalize and stigmatize abortion—fail to achieve these commonsense goals.”
Read the full text of the letter here.
Governor Bentley has until the end of the week to sign or veto these bills.
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