Monday will dawn with more hope for the unborn in Alabama, where the only abortion clinic in the northern region of the state will close its doors. Al.com reports that the Alabama Women’s Center for Reproductive Alternatives in Huntsville plans to surrender its license June 30. Brian Hale, the state health department agency’s deputy general counsel said:
“State inspectors had determined the clinic, located on Madison Street near Huntsville Hospital, would need “moderate to significant alterations…. Voluntarily relinquishing the license is a way to avoid the adverse licensure action,”
Hale is referring to the new Women’s Health and Safety Act that goes into effect July 1. This law requires Alabama abortion clinic to have the same standards as ambulatory surgical centers, a trend that is becoming common in pro-life legislation. Alabama is led my Gov. Robert Bentley, an outspoken proponent for pro-life legislation; Bentley signed the act into law in April and it goes into effect July 1.
While the Huntsville clinic is attempting to relocate, Hale told Al.com that it would have to reapply for a new provider license if that happened.
The Huntsville closure leaves the entire state with three active, licensed clinics, Hale said. They are Planned Parenthood in Mobile, West Alabama Women’s Center in Tuscaloosa and Reproductive Health Services in Montgomery.
Local Christian Coalition of Alabama Executive Director James Henderson, who has led sidewalk protests at the clinic for 10 years, told Al.com the group is planning one more meeting at the clinic:
“We’re going to have a memorial service and remember the lives that should have been. By reasonable estimates, there have been over 30,000 unborn babies killed at the various abortion clinics in Huntsville. It’s wiped out a city larger than Athens and almost as big as Madison.”
While some continue to claim that changing laws won’t change abortion, those 30,000 unborn babies would probably disagree if they had ever had a chance to speak in the Huntsville region.
