U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson on Thursday ruled two Alabama abortion laws are unconstitutional and blocked the state from enforcing them.

One would prohibit the state from licensing or renewing the license of an abortion clinic within 2,000 feet of a K-8 public school. That would close two of Alabama's five abortion clinics, Thompson wrote, and those two clinics perform 72 percent of abortions in the state.

The other law would criminalize the most common method of second-trimester abortion in Alabama, effectively terminating the right to an abortion in Alabama at 15 weeks, Thompson wrote. The method is called dilation and evacuation and is referred to in the Alabama law as dismemberment abortion.

"Because these laws clearly impose an impermissible burden on a woman's ability to choose an abortion, they cannot stand," the judge wrote.

Mike Lewis, spokesman for the Alabama attorney general's office, said the state will appeal the ruling.

Thompson had previously issued an order temporarily blocking enforcement of the laws.

The Legislature passed both laws last year and they were scheduled to take effect August 1 of this year.

Plaintiffs in the case are the West Alabama Women's Center in Tuscaloosa and the Alabama Women's Center in Huntsville.

The West Alabama Women's Center, which opened in 1993, performs 58 percent of abortions in the state, while the Alabama Women's Center, which opened in 2001, performs 14 percent, Thompson wrote.

They are the only two clinics in Alabama that perform abortions at or after 15 weeks.

Randall Marshall, executive director of the ACLU of Alabama, who represents the plaintiffs, issued a statement about the ruling.

"Despite the state's continued attempts to restrict access to abortion, the courts have definitively held that access to an abortion is a constitutional right. This is a great victory for the women of Alabama who deserve the right to a safe, medical procedure."

Alabama's other three abortion clinics include Planned Parenthood clinics in Birmingham and Mobile and Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery.

Sen. Phil Williams, R-Rainbow City, who sponsored the bill banning dismemberment abortion, said Thompson's ruling proves that he's one of the most liberal judges in the southeast and called dismember abortion a "heinous procedure."

Rev. James Henderson, an anti-abortion activist who spearheaded the law banning abortion clinics within 2,000 feet of schools, said he was not surprised by Thompson's ruling and is optimistic that it will be overturned.

"We know there are hurdles in the appeal process, but the longer it takes the more likelihood there will be another Trump appointment or two," Henderson said. "So I honestly believe with all my heart that ultimately within a year or two this is going to get to the Supreme Court, it's going to be overturned by a conservative Supreme Court."

This story will be updated.

Abortion Laws Ruling by Mike Cason on Scribd