abortion rally

Anti-abortion supporters rally outside Huntsville City Hall in 2014. (Bob Gathany/bgathany@al.com)

The two bills passed by the state legislature, and subsequently challenged in court by the ACLU, simply represent Alabama exercise its rights as a state, lawmakers said Tuesday.

Gov. Robert Bentley signed the abortion bills in law and they will go into effect Aug. 1.

One bill prohibits the renewal of a health center license at a facility within 2,000 feet of a public K-8 school while the other prohibits an abortion procedure the lawsuit maintains is the "safest and most common" second-trimester procedure.

The very fact that there is a federal law does not make the federal law right or not allow any further adjustment at the state level," state Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, said. "That's why we have a 10th Amendment to the constitution.

"The Roe court literally made its decision because there was an absence of state law to the contrary in Texas. States do have a right to say in the abortion argument because Roe was based on an absence of state law as opposed to a pre-emption of state law."

State Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, agreed.

"What the courts have ruled is that while we cannot completely ban abortions, we do have within our rights as a state to regulate and control clinics that perform abortions," Henry said. "And that's all there is. It's well within our rights."

Williams sponsored the bill that outlawed dismemberment of the fetus in the procedure. The medical term for the procedure is "dilation and evacuation," the lawsuit said.

"The vast majority of the people of Alabama support the right to life and this particular bill was passed in a bipartisan fashion," Williams said in an interview with AL.com. "Even some of the usual opponents recognizing how heinous a dismemberment abortion really is and wanted to see that particular practice stopped. It should not be an elective procedure.

"What it does is literally dismembers a child in the womb piece by piece well after the development has shown that there is a human life there. It's inconceivable to me that the ACLU would find this in some way in violation of civil liberties, which is what they are allegedly standing for."

Williams also took exception to the ACLU describing the procedure as the safest.

"Once again, the ACLU is only considering one life of the two involved," Williams said. "It's certainly not the safest for the baby. I think it's inconceivable that we literally should see ourselves not taking a stand for what is right because something is common."

State Rep. Ed Henry, R-Hartselle, carried the House version of the bill prohibiting abortion clinics to be near schools. Sen. Paul Sanford, R-Huntsville, sponsored the bill that Bentley eventually signed.

That bill is set to eventually close two of the state's five abortion clinics. Those clinics, located in Huntsville and Tuscaloosa, performed 72 percent of the state's abortions in 2014, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

"You have an abortion clinic in very near proximity to an elementary school in Huntsville and there are children who are subjected to the graphic nature that surround those abortion clinics because there are protesters and supporters constantly out there doing battle, exercising their free speech," Henry said. "I just don't feel like that should be in such close proximity to a school kindergarten through eighth grade."

Williams said the laws should not be viewed as roadblocks to women getting abortions.

"Every one of these discussions has to be given proper context," he said. "This is not intent to undermine federal law. It's an intent to preserve life."