MONTGOMERY, Alabama --- Some are staking out positions on four abortion bills that will be the subject of public hearings Wednesday in the Alabama House of Representatives.

The bills would:.

-- Require doctors to check for a fetal heartbeat before doing an abortion and prohibiting an abortion if a heartbeat is detected.

-- Require women to wait 48 hours after receiving some state-mandated information before getting an abortion. The current law requires 24 hours.

-- Require women to receive information about perinatal hospice services before an abortion of a fetus with “lethal anomaly,” a defect that will result in death within three months after birth.

-- Tighten the law requiring parental consent for minors to receive an abortion.

House Speaker Mike Hubbard, R-Auburn, sent out a news release today in support of the bills, which have Republican sponsors.

“It is unfortunate that liberal activist judges on the U.S. Supreme Court have made abortion legal in the United States, but Alabamians are fortunate to have a Republican legislature that continues to protect and prioritize life in our state,” Hubbard said.

Nikema Williams, vice president of public policy for Planned Parenthood Southeast, said the bills are attempts to restrict women’s constitutional rights to abortion.

Williams said fetal heartbeats can sometimes be detected as early as six weeks. Alabama law currently allows abortions up to 20 weeks.

Williams said the 48-hour rule would be hard on women in rural areas who don’t live close to an abortion clinic.

Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, sponsor of the 48-hour bill, said in a statement that it made sense to take more time with such a “monumental” decision.

“I’m confident that the difference of an additional 24 hours of consideration could help more people choose life,” Henry said.

As for the bill on lethal anomalies, Planned Parenthood's Williams said it would be “cruel and insensitive” to women who are already facing a terrible choice because their pregnancies have gone wrong. Under the bill, women would have to sign a form saying they opted for abortion after being told about perinatal hospice services.

The bill’s sponsor, Rep. Kurt Wallace, R-Maplesville, said in a statement: “The more information potential parents are provided with under these difficult circumstances about positive alternatives to abortion the more likely they will be to make an informed decision and a positive choice,” Wallace said.

The public hearing will be at 9 a.m. in the joint briefing room on the 8th floor of the Alabama State House.

The Legislature passed a law last year adding new regulations for abortion clinics, including a requirement that doctors have admitting privileges at a hospital in the city where they do abortions.

and the case is pending.